The Fall of an Icon
by thecalrog
Summary: Tracer becomes the pawn in the sinister games of two old friends. After uncovering a conspiracy amongst the senior members of Overwatch, Tracer aligns herself with vice and evil in order to discover the truth and as her world is turned on its head, Tracer finds herself losing control... and liking it.
1. Half the World Away

"You're a bleeding heart, Lena!" he called out. "You always were, you never had to make the hard decisions! You just soaked up the praise and adoration, you were a mascot, but you could have become so much more." The voice growled across the roof of the skyscraper.

The wind battered spire lurched beneath them as Tracer stumbled, one hand clutched her accelerator, it's blue hue flickering on and off. Snow whipped and cracked at their faces, it's silent torment doing little to slice through the tension. Tracer brought McCree's Peacemaker to bare on the figure, who rested a shotgun on her and one beneath the chin of his hostage.

"You betrayed us, Lena, for what?" The voice rattled across the sky in a desperate to justify itself. "You never loved her, you said it yourself!"

Emily's face pulsed through her brain, hers and a thousand faces danced across her mind in a sea of painful and happy memories, each one wreaking havoc among the young girl's mental faculties as she slowly and menacingly stepped towards her target. Suddenly the gun felt heavy in her hand as her mind slowly unravelled. The weight of the revolver reminded her of its wielder and how the man in front of her was the reason it now belonged to her.

"You gave up everything you had for her!" the voice said again. "She cost you Winston, Angela, Torbjorn" the voice turned vile "It cost me Amelie and Gerard, even Sombra" it spat out those names as if they were poison.

"That's not how it fucking was and you know it!" Tracer screamed "It wouldn't have mattered if you had trusted me, if you hadn't _left me with them_ " she seethed. As the two figures became more defined and the winter fog receded around them. The scarred rooftop belched and spluttered smoke into the sky from the hole in its side.

"That's exactly how it was, Lena" the voice said, a tinge of sadness slipped into the stream of rage that spewed forth from his mouth. He chuckled as Tracer lowered her gun and wiped away her tears using the sleeve of her jacket. "You betrayed _us_ " he reaffirmed, letting his hostage fall the ground "now he'll pay the price too" he said looking at the other man crawling away from him. Raising one shotgun he fired in to the back of the man, who cried out in pain before crawling away. He chuckled to himself as Tracer fell to her knee's "I'm surprised you're still even processing this shit, considering how we fucked up your brains" he mocked. "Oh, please wipe everything, I don't want to feel anymore!" he gloated before firing the other shotgun into the back of the man's skull, his body finally going limp. "You're weak, at least Amelie didn't _want_ her memories erased, at least she put up a fight" he laughed, steadily becoming unhinged as he circled her goading her into action. He crouched in front of her and held her face up. Through her cracked goggles and bloodied face he finally came into view, a fresh set of tears running down her face. "Don't worry, little one" he cooed, as he held her head to his chest, it'll all be over soon, you can truly replace Widowmaker this time" he said, pulling out the familiar syringe and sinking it deep into her arm.

"Even now, after all _you_ did?" Tracer spoke at last her voice seethed with hatred, "you'd have me believe this was all my fault?" she said, defiant yet passive as the fluid entered her veins. With her last ounce on strength she smiled and gripped the heavy revolver before jamming it under his ribs and firing upwards, the bullet tore through his body.

Tracer stood up, the serum infecting and coursing through her veins. Her addiction was now fed as she stopped suffering the withdrawal symptoms. She walked towards the writhing form on the floor. "It's just us left now" She said, her body numbing, "and when you die, the world can move on" Tracer noted nonchalantly as her victim began coughing up the blood that had seeped into his lungs. The life drained from her eyes. "It ends here, as it began" she said coldly, cocking the weapon dramatically.

She pulled the trigger and a rush passed through her, the familiar rush of a target well taken care of. This time however, a sense of personal satisfaction overwhelmed her. It was over, she'd done it…

Morrison was dead.


	2. Cheer Up London

Chapter 1

"oh Winston, I got your favourite!" Tracer giggled as she startled the great ape, swinging upside down behind him. The low hum of Watchpoint Gibraltar's many screens buzzed with information as Winston cast an eye over it all. Outside, the hustle and bustle of a military base was on display for the pair as the base wound down for the night, the golden sunset cast a warm feeling of wholeness over pair as Winston's fingers danced over the keyboard.

"For last time, no more banana's" he replied, sighing at the screen in front of him.

"Whats wrong big guy?" Tracer asked, blinking to the floor and coming to his side.

"Nothing!"

"So whats the problem?" she asked again

"No, that _is_ the problem, the omnium in London has begun to show signs of awakening for weeks and _nothing_ has happened" he replied, frustrated. "Usually these things wake up and invade the nearest city but this one has been building omnics for the better half of a year without any incident."

"Well Morrison is over there taking a look so there's nothing to worry about yer big worry pot" Tracer said beaming, putting Winston at ease instantly.

Suddenly Lena's communicator chirped loudly and Lena bolted to her room, a blue trail echoing her steps as it tried to follow her. Being alone made Winston restless once more, Tracer seemingly taking all the confidence in the room with her as she left.

Flopping onto the bed Tracer tapped the pad and a picture of Emily sprung forth. "Hello baby" she said in a thick northern accent.

"Someone's happy" Lena replied, smiling.

"Our petition to the government was passed, we can talk to the omnics inside the omnium" she said, the elation in her voice was palpable.

"Fantastic!" Lena said

"Isn't it just?" came the reply "I'll be the one saving the world this time, Lena, just you watch"

"I will!" Lena said coyly "…very closely"

"Well that is half the reason I do this job" Emily said honestly.

"That means it's your treat tonight, love" Tracer quipped, biting her lip.

"Hmmm" came the reply "I can't wait" she added and they both giggled.

The pair ended the call just as Angela entered the room. "Lena, Morrison wants us at the Omnium in King's Row to guard the human delegation" She said softly, picking at some dried blood under her nail. She leaned against the frame of the doorway, the light of the corridor blasting behind her as she looked down on Lena, a look of pity flashed momentarily across her face before returning to the warm maternal glow, which usually occupied its exterior. She stepped forward and offered Tracer a hand, smiling warmly. Tracer looked at the outstretched palm and giggled.

"I ent going nowhere near your minging hand Angie" she said, blinking to her feet. "I doubt God knows where they've been."

Just then McCree rounded the corner. "You ready to go kiddo?" he asked cheerfully, his long southern drawl made Angela flutter her brows as she drank in the man's appearance.

"I think Angie is for sure, love" Tracer chuckled and darted off, leaving the two alone and very embarrassed.

The team boarded the VTOL excitedly and efficiently, Morrison's barking over the radio did little to neuter the mood as the team, which consisted of Mercy, Tracer, Winston and McCree, settled into the loading bay for the short flight from Gibraltar. Soon enough the team were high above London, having traded the warm glow of the Spanish sunset for the cool and biting dark of an English night.

"I do love comin' back" Lena said, looking out of the window. Lena looked at McCree who agreed and took a sip of his whisky. "I used to cause so much trouble as a kid, Emily would always come home to my house, telling my Mum that I'd been nicked…" she paused for effect, "again."

"You sound exactly like me, darlin" McCree laughed.

"s'pose I do" Lena trailed off, remembering McCree's involvement in Blackwatch and how lucky it was that he was saved by Morrison, not Gabriel. Lena fought back the memory that had become synonymous with Reaper: the birth of Widowmaker. Lena never really knew her, though she knew Gerard well, she'd only met Amelie twice. It was hard to see the appeal of her back then, she was snotty, sophisticated, arrogant and brash, she was… "French" she whispered quietly to herself as she looked down at Kings Row, where she'd last met Widowmaker before letting out a chuckle. She was _very_ French.

Widowmaker however, was a different story, Tracer had met her many times and every time ended with one of them winning but sparing the other, the rivalry they shared was well known and it was something both sides sought to exploit as they tried to draw each other out. Widowmaker was cold and calculating, she was strange and exotic, she retained her French arrogance of course, but there was something to Widowmaker that Tracer found appealing. Though she'd never admit it, Lena was often gripped by anxiety. Her condition meant that she could disappear at any moment. Disassociation is an unearthly experience. It's breathing in nothingness, its losing days on end with nno recollection, it is disorientation and endless painful emotion. Emotion that the Widowmaker was free from.

The older ship shook and clattered as it hit turbulence over Canary Wharf, sending a slightly buzzed McCree stumbling into Winston. Who jumped, thinking they were under attack. Mercy, who came to stand near Tracer, giggled with the young woman as they watched McCree try to calm him down, clattering about the bay in a mess of limbs, poncho and combat suit.

"McCree, you moron!" he said, exacerbated by the shock.

"Sorry, partner" the bulky American replied, picking his hat from the floor. "Driver!" he shouted as he tried to change the subject, "How long until we reach Kings Row?"

"We're here, Sir!" came the reply as the bay doors opened and the team stepped off into the street. The area had been evacuated save for the mass of pro-omnic activists and the human delegation to the omnics in the factory. Armed police were everywhere and several men in suits approached them as Lena gawked at the familiar architecture. She loved her home, the Crooked Goose Pub was where she met her first, and last, boyfriend and looking down the street she saw its familiar shape, warped and old fashioned were the struts which held it up. Lena smiled as she realised, perhaps for the first time, that the reason she loved her home so much was its refusal to be replaced. Here, gothic architecture was intertwined with new age technology and home design, it was cramped and yet spacious, economical and practical. It was like herself in that respect, she often came across as childlike, she was stubborn too, all because of her chronal disassociation.

She was so enthralled by her surroundings that she missed the long drawn out speech the suited man gave. Unfortunately for her he beckoned for her to follow him.

"Thanks for coming, Tracer" he said warmly as the others retreated to their respectively assigned stations. "Tensions are rising here" He began. "People want to go home, want to accept the omnics, kill the omnics etcetera". He walked down the street towards the old pub. "Me and my friends are great fans of your work, Tracer" he said, looking forward and with a smug confidence that Tracer couldn't quite discern the necessity for.

"Who are those mates of yours then… mister?"

"Oh, that's not important" he replied hastily, "I represent the governments interests regarding this matter" he added as they reached the entrance to the pub. "Who I am would complicate things, we need clarity now, don't you think?"

"I suppose that's fair" Tracer replied, crossing her arms as the man rounded the bar.

"Drink?" he asked.

"Tea please"

He looked at her.

"I _am_ on the job love" Lena said half laughing.

"That's true" the man said with a chuckle. "I forget most people don't have my luxuries" he said, pouring a scotch.

"Best not forget either, love" Lena warned, half serious "bad things happen to big men that put little guys down for too long."

"Oh contraire" he said slyly, "you're not a little person at all, are you, Miss Oxton?"

"What do you mean by that?" Tracer replied, somewhat unnerved as the gentleman lit a cigarette. It was the first time she took note of him. He was about six foot, sharply dressed in a smoky grey three-piece tailored suit, presumably from a shop on Savile Row, complete with brown half inch heeled boots and a black tie, tied into an immaculate Windsor knot. He was an older man, late fifties by Tracer's estimate. He had an impressive greying beard which covered most of his face. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of gold aviators, despite it being well after 9PM.

"I mean you're a celebrity, you're powerful, more powerful than my money and influence anyway." He smiled, "it's _almost_ enviable" he added, flashing a Rolex as he moved about deliberately, taking a long drag on the cigarette.

"The reason, as you're probably wondering, for asking for a private moment with you, Lena is that I have a favour to ask." He spoke softly now, almost embarrassed in fact, by what was coming next. "I'd like an autograph, if it's not too much." He looked away. Lena was sure that beneath that salt and pepper beard was a rosy blush.

Lena burst out laughing. "Of course, love!" she giggled, playfully punching the older gentleman in the arm. "Who's it for?"

"Emily" he said. Tracer froze looking him straight in the eye. "She's my daughter" he continued as Tracer relaxed. "she adores you so much. She always says that she has to do the right thing because it's what Tracer does and because the world could always use more heroes." His words were soaked in a pure and angelic kind of honesty.

Lena blinked over the bar, rummaging through the junk before holding up an old polaroid. "Kaspar, the owner, always keeps this under here" she said, coming to stand beside him and snapping a selfie. She wrote her message on the rear of the photo.

 _Emily,_

 _Never be afraid to do the right thing! The world could always use more heroes!_

 _Love,_

 _L. Oxton_

She handed the photo to him and noticed his cufflinks, an eagle moments from the kill, it too seemed familiar. Lena opened her mouth when a commotion was heard outside. It was familiar, it was the sound of her girlfriend, Emily.

She was squaring up to Morrison, shouting him down as he held her back. "You can't be here, lady, it's not safe!" Morrison said, his paternal side showing as he tanked a blow to the shoulder from a protester.

"Hey Morrison" Lena shouted, darting over. "What's the problem? She has permission to be here!" Tracer demanded as Morrison became visibly uncomfortable. "She has a government order, Morrsion, we are mercenaries, _not Overwatch_ " she added quickly, scowling up at the imposing man.

"If she goes in there I can't guarantee she'll come back out" he replied angrily, staring her down.

"You said it was safe!"

"I said there were no signs of activity, there's a difference" he reiterated.

Tracer looked at Emily who looked down on her warmly, they knew Emily would have a chance to try again and she nodded in acknowledgement. "She comes with us, you can't stop her" Tracer said firmly.

The group approached the omnic assembly line, which ominously ceased production as Morrison opened the door. Inside, hundreds of omnics lined the rooms, all dormant and silent. "Okay we'll go with the original plan" Morrison spoke over the radio as he moved swiftly to the control room. The rest guarded Emily as she breathed in, preparing herself. "Right, I'm going to try and - ." Morrison said gravely before cutting out.

"Morrison?" Mercy said quickly, "sitrep!" she added hastily. No reply came, instead, the omnics lit up and stood to attention. The team formed a circle, drawing their guns. One omnic began beeping as Emily reached out to it.

"We're here as friends" she spoke bravely.

The omnic closest to her stepped forward. It's mechanical limbs cranked and clanged as it approached her. Its light went red and it clamped an arm around her. Lena screamed out but the rest moved forward as the beeping omnic began to glow, heating up. Emily was dragged into the crowd as the other omnics advanced, McCree fired at an omnic as it lunged and all hell broke loose. The close proximity of the fight meant that Tracer was not able to blink, only recall to avoid a punch or grapple. The team were slowly pushed back as the hundreds of omnics advanced. The beeping omnic exploded, knocking Tracer down. Emily could be heard screaming as she was dragged away. Winston picked her up as members of the metropolitan police rushed in and fired on the omnics, preventing the team from being surrounded. With a path of escape revealed, the team ran as Morrison slipped out a side door to re-join them. At that moment, the omnics paused and all began to beep. Tracer froze in Winston's arms as she realised the omnium would come down on Emily when they exploded. It took Winston and Morrison to prevent her returning inside as they got back to the safe zone.

They stopped as the droning bleeps hit their climax, morphing into a singular tone, Lena whispered "No" as the omnium burst into flames, detonating the entire block and everything that surrounded it. Tracer fell to the ground as an EOD team approached the site of the blast with a detachment of soldiers who arrived just as the explosion hit. Mercy and Morrison tended the wounded, which included McCree as a chunk of glass protruded from his left arm and cheek. Winston bounded off to help the explosives team back in the omnium as he vowed to find Emily.

Lena dumbly approached the smouldering remains of the Crooked Goose, its ashen carcass was bare, save for a wooden slab that used to be the bar. She looked under it and saw LO + EV carved into the side. It was scorched and charred but it had survived. Lena carved it before her first date with Emily for luck. Lena felt numb as she left the remains of the pub and entered the crater left by the omnium. Most of it was gone and Winston at the bottom with the bomb disposal team, finishing off the surviving omics. She noticed the west side of the building had survived and she rushed through the door, turning through corridor after corridor until she reached the control room.

There stood widowmaker, and next to her, the body of Emily slumped in a corner, bleeding out from a single shot to the gut. "You!" Lena cried, as Widowmaker turned nonchalantly.

"Oui?" she said, a wry grin spreading across her face.

Lena jumped into action, blinking forward and punching, knocking Widowmaker backwards as she ripped a downloader from the socket and spun back, landing a kick to Tracer's calf, knocking her down. This is how Tracer and Widowmaker were. A brutal dance of death performed by two artists as the pair weaved in and out, up and down, left and right. Often not hitting at all, just moving, waiting for a chance to strike. Like a game of chess each of them moved like masters as the pair became a blur of blue and purple. Tracer hit a right hook but Widowmaker was unfazed, countering with an uppercut which knocked Tracer back. Tracer blinked left to right as the assassin fired her rifle, missing in on case by millimetres. Then, as she got close, Tracer saw her chance and recalled. Widowmaker fell over a reappearing foot as Tracer unleashed her pistols upon her. They missed as Widowmaker fired a grappling hook down the hall and zipped away, leaving a venom mine behind to prevent her foe from pursuing. Lena was disinterested though, as she scrambled to Emily's side before embracing her dying friend.

"I love you Trace" she whispered, her body like ice. "Never forget that" she croaked.

"I won't, love, I won't ever" Lena said, sobbing

"Trace, I'm sorry" she said finally, her body going limp

"Don't ever be Emily, don't you ever be" Lena replied to no one as her cries pierced the now silent air.

Winston burst in, and growled, he'd loved Emily too and was bordering on rage. He stopped as he noticed the file that Widowmaker had left was half downloaded. "She'd been looking for the security footage, where its remote storage is" he said as Lena sniffed, still holding Emily. "But that makes no sense, surely she knew what was going on" he asked himself. His primal rage receding as his inquisitive, scientific mind took over.

"Unless she wasn't responsible" Lena said dryly.

"I don't even want to have to consider that" Winston agreed, "Morrison has already said not to pursue her"

"If he thinks I'll listen to that order he's learnt nothing" Lena said defiantly "we know where she's going, so from now on, that's we'll go" Lena seethed. Winston sighed but agreed, before suggesting that they leave immediately.

Lena laid her partner to rest that night, taking her to the Oxton family home to be cremated. A grand old building, it was a relic of a bygone age however, it's gates were rusting at the edges and the grounds grew rough around the edges as the lone groundsman struggled loyally but in vain against the fauna as it grew upon the old brickwork like a cancer. The rain coursed along the windows of the black Rolls Royce as Lena stroked Emily's flame red hair. Her lover that was gently sleeping. She looked at the fall of the leaves along the driveway, lining the road like soldiers stood to mourn their last king. Lena burnt the body under the old marble arches of the country home as the massive estate seemed to weep. The flames warmed Lena, rain pouring down the side of the gazebo which she'd played in as a child and she wept. The embers slowly dulled as Lena sat, her legs crossed with her back to the burned-out casket and hours passed as the dark rainy autumnal night regressed to a silent and foggy morning. Lena placed her ashes in an ornate obsidian vase and left them on the table of her family mansion.

There were no Oxton's left but Marcus, her butler, kept the place looking presentable. Lena had a lot of skeletons in her closet, all of them kept in this wretched place, and decided that for now, her girlfriend would be one of them.

Until, at least, she killed the Widowmaker.


	3. Goodbye, My Lover

Buried deep in the swiss alps lay an omnic nerve centre. One of the few known humans and the only one protected and held by humans. Tracer and Winston looked around as the large metallic door slid shut and the blistering chill of the Alps receded away for a warm heated corridor. There was one way in this lone corridor and at the end of it, a single room, from which information was passed to omnics around the globe. A faint, pungent smell hung in the air as the pair trudged down the hallway towards the control room.

"There should be UN peacekeepers around, Tracer, be careful" Winston said.

Tracer however ignored the gorilla, the smell irked her, it seemed familiar. The truth was that Tracer felt unhinged, she'd not so much as giggled since Emily passed away the day before, something she'd managed even after her father was killed before she signed on to slipstream. This worried Winston to no end, he knew it would pass but still, he wanted his friend back. A lot more than the smell was frustrating Tracer, if she was honest. She though back to the previous night, why had Widowmaker been so surprised by her reaction to Emily's death, she was so unprepared? Why was Morrison not followed out of the control room by omnics when atleast one had taken Emily there? Tracer was confused and angry for not being able to save her.

It was then, as the smell grew more distinct, that Tracer realised who was around. Winston looked down to see the remains of a venom mine. "Tra-" he began, but was cut short as he was ambushed by Reaper. Tracer stopped running. She'd darted for the control room when she realised it was Widowmaker. Turning she saw Winston burst into primal rage as Reaper and an invisible enemy pushed him back towards the exit.

"Winston!" Tracer yelled out, her voiced disappearing into the mess of roars, grunts, groans and gunshots. She began to run back blinking twice to close the distance when she stopped, a searing pain coursed through her calf and yanked her backwards. Tracer screamed in pain as she was dragged along the floor and into the air by her leg muscle. She knew instantly what had happened, she'd been so stupid. Lena rose into the air and came face to face with Amelie Lecroix.

"I win this round, _cherie_ " she said as Winston was finally pushed out of the door and down the mountain.

"Winston…" Lena said softly, ignoring her nemesis.

Widowmaker dropped from the ceiling daintily allowing Tracer to hit the floor with a loud and painful crunch. Reaper strode up to them and laughed manically as he yanked off her accelerator and pulled her across the floor. The pain in her leg was reignited as Widowmaker retracted her hook and Tracer grimaced and clutched her shattered calf.

"Why not just kill me?" Tracer said to Reaper as he threw the young woman down to the floor.

"The boss wants you alive" Reaped replied. Tracer's body seemed to shrink away at that, she knew she was notorious in Talon but the fact that their highest benefactor had a personal interest in her made her feel sick. It was as if she was no longer in control or that maybe she had never been. She backed up to a pillar to lean against as Sombra appeared in front of them. It was the first-time Lena had seen her as she usually stayed out of the thick of the fighting, which is where Tracer always was.

"You bitch!" Lena screamed as Widowmaker walked towards her. "You coward!" Lena sobbed, her resolve to show no hurt cracked and she added, much quieter, "you utter coward…".

"What on earth are you talking about, _Cherie_ " Widowmaker asked, as she stepped close to her prisoner.

"The girl you murdered yesterday," Tracer began but couldn't finish. It was too painful. Sombra moved to speak but Reaper pulled her back and shook his head at her.

Then Widowmaker did something odd, her expression changed, she looked confused. Her beautiful features softened as she thought back to yesterday's events.

"I didn't kill her." She said.

Tracer looked up in disbelief. "Why would you lie, you never have done before?" Lena cried.

"believe me, little girl, had I known killing her would make you this easy to capture I'd have done it years ago," she said, brushing hair from Tracer's face and laughing to herself.

Lena said nothing as she looked to her knee's, tears rolling down her cheek. Widowmaker sat next to her, resting her head on the back of the pylon as she napped. Reaper and Sombra worked on the control panel as Widowmaker slumped over her, her perfumed smell filling Lena's nostrils, her full chest rising and falling with each breath she took. Lena's eyes were drawn to her bodysuit as she noticed her cleavage for the first time. Her gaze was broken when Reaper clocked Sombra on the back of her head.

"You know how dangerous this is, you idiot?" he said. "You are not becoming a liability again, are you, Sombra?" he chuckled to himself.

"You know I'd never put you in that situation again, I was confident I could do it and I did." Sombra replied hastily. Tracer didn't expect such insubordination to be tolerated by Reaper and the freedom and bond they seemed to share was eye opening.

"Yeah well last time ended with Symmetra in a vat of chicken shit" he laughed, "so long as it's not me, I couldn't care less what you do"

The thought of symmetra covered in dung made Lena laugh and she rubbed her eyes. Much to her chagrin, Sombra turned, a sinister grin plastered across her face. "It was _hilarious_ " she said, she continued to gloat as she told the story in full. Tracer ignored her, her face falling back into a scowl and sniffing as Widowmaker rolled her eyes at the story, clearly irritated as well.

"She tells it all wrong" Widowmaker said at last, her silence had been ignored by Tracer whose memories of Emily's death flooded back to her. The embarrassment at laughing with her enemy soon faded and she realised that she was now sat uncomfortably close to her lover's killer.

"In reality, it was a vat of her own acid" she said, scoffing as Tracer recoiled in disgust. She looked at Widowmaker as she scoffed and snorted, Lena noticed the lines of her face as she laughed for the first time in front of an enemy. There was something wholly genuine about her, her humour was dark, like crude oil beside Lena's childish antics and her laugh was ugly. It was an amalgamation of a snort and the sinister laugh of a man. It was completely unlike her, Amelie was so serious, she was passionate, she was feminine, she was reserved and calculating and… evil. Tracer found herself scowling again as Widowmaker calmed down, her face gradually returned to the earie stoicism for which it was so well known.

Tracer's mind became a sea of memories as she thought about what had happened. Emily was dead. Widowmaker had killed her, but for some reason she lied, she told her she hadn't it was just another mystery to contend with. Tracer saw the look she'd received from Reaper as she gloated in her face, Tracer wasn't so distraught that she lost all her sense of awareness. They wanted her for something for sure something big too. Perhaps she had started to regain that awareness however, as she noticed the security console whir into life. It was her friends!

"Hey Sombra, why do you have such a stupid hair cut?" Lena began "trying way too hard to fit in with these losers are you, love?" she finished her sentence as the room froze. Sombra spun on her heels and marched towards her as Reaper stifled a laugh.

She bent over in front of the prisoner "what di-" she couldn't finish, Tracer yanked her gun from its holster and blasted the security console, wrecking it, Widowmaker launched into action before she could fire on the main computer, pushing her down, and disarming her skilfully and ruthlessly. Tracer screamed out in pain as she clutched her hand.

"You didn't have to snap her hand, Widowmaker, we do need her in one piece" Reaper said, turning back to his work with indifference.

"Don't you think she torched the security console for a reason, Gabe?" Sombra said, baiting Reaper into conflict. Tracer knew he hated that name but she was too hurt to worry as her leg started to bleed again, the excitement had broken the clotting and the floor began to be polka dotted with blood.

"This was built by omnics, no one gets in or out until we say so" he replied.

"we won't know how many there are, we do have their best agent as hostage" Sombra said slightly worried, her famous aversion to direct conflict was on show and her brow furrowed as she contemplated their escape.

"debatable" said Widowmaker, smirking, as she pulled a pair of handcuffs from the corpse of a security guard. "are you telling me you're scared of a couple of agents?" she said, slapping the restraints on Lena and tightening them, making Lena yelp at the searing pain in her wrist.

Sombra turned back to her work on the computer with a grunt as she and Reaper discussed the process in detail. Tracer tried to follow the conversation but Widowmaker had pulled a small box from a pouch on Sombra's leg, she made her uncomfortable, drawing her attention away from her other hand as she sensually joked with the young woman, Tracers eyes were glued to the scene as she expertly removed the package without Reaper so much as moving. Lena straightened up, snapping back to reality as she approached her and sat next to her.

She sat cross legged, her thighs puffing up at the pressure beneath them. Lena hadn't seen her in such a casual situation before and she watched nervously as she opened the box, looking over her shoulder at Sombra who had returned to her work. The box was small and practical with a golen tint to the latch, which she opened it daintily and deliberately, her blue fingers moving across the latch like a butterfly. It popped open and several vials were revealed, they contained a purple liquid and Widowmaker removed them slotting them into a syringe she found concealed beneath the felt vials.

She smiled a devilish grin, winked and pushed the needle deep into her arm. Slowly injecting the fluid, she gasped, a wide smiled planted itself upon her face and her pupils widened and narrowed in a frenzy of oscillations. Tracer grimaced, the pain roared in her body as she regarded Widowmaker cautiously. She prepared another and came to sit next to Lena once more.

"Try it" she said, holding it up.

"what? No." Lena replied, apparently less firm than she intended as the sniper giggled like a school girl.

"You're in pain, this will take the edge off, _Cherie_ " she practically begged as she came close to Lena, whose head pulsed in pain. It was too much. Tracer couldn't think properly as her arm moved towards Widowmaker. Her mind drowned in images of Emily and the pain in her wrist coursed through her body towards her leg which wept blood from the wound as the lack of medical attention left her feeling faint. Widowmaker, with a grin, pushed the needle beneath her skin and plunged the fluid into her body. Tracer's headache receded to nothing and her eyes glazed over as her pupils burst outwards. They were as wide as a rabbit in the headlights of a car, her wrist no longer bothered her and the storm in her mind calmed as she no longer saw Emily but the woman before her, biting her lip. Widowmaker put an arm around Tracer as they rode out the high in peace, their bodies intertwined against the pillar, feeling their blood move through their bodies, their heads gain weightlessness, and their minds slip into an emotionless euphoria.

The feeling receded quickly, however and left Tracer feeling muted and relaxed, the world seemed less colourful than it did before but she didn't mind, she felt she could concentrate now which was just as well as Gabriel slapped Sombra on the back in praise and the security feed from the London omnium sprung onto the screen. Widowmaker got up and showed Lena a hand, which the you girl took and hobbled over to the screen with the assassin's assistance.

The screen showed Morrison entering the control room, rifle raised, as he approached the console which overlooked the main room.

"Where's the sound?" Reaper asked.

"It's gone, this is all we're gonna get, I'd have to be onsite to get more" Sombra replied.

"That's not going to happen" Widowmaker said, letting Lena stand on her own.

Morrison set his rifle down and fiddled about with the keyboard.

"It looks like he's trying to access the manual command screen" Sombra said with interest. Morrison appeared to know what he's doing as the screen flickered up and he celebrated, pumping his fist into the air. Sombra gasped. "Holy shit he did it, I've never even seen that done before."

"It's impossible without a sort code and classification number, you'd need an omnic to hand it over" Reaper said as he crossed his arms with a huff.

"So, that's why we went to war over Bastion?" Sombra replied. The timeline fit, Tracer thought to herself, when everyone jumped to Bastions defence they did so because he wanted to join Overwatch. Morrison, it was clear, had ulterior motives for doing so.

"Yep," he continued "which is why when we did catch up with him his memory was wiped. God, can you imagine the control we'd have if we got hold of it?" Reaper was grinning under the mask, Lena was sure of it.

"Why do they even have manual control?" Lena asked, forgetting that she was a prisoner for a moment.

"You are too young to know but it's a leftover protocol from before the first omnic crisis" he replied to Tracer's surprise. "Originally it was designed as a human override but they kept it after Morrison and I shut all the units out of the control network during the early days of the crisis. The only way to get back in was the manual override."

Tracer thought that it was odd that Morrison hadn't told them about this, surely shutting down the omnics was something they could have used in the facility. Lena of course couldn't condone fully controlling them but if preventing them from self-destructing would have saved Emily, Tracer could have forgone those values.

Morrison picked his rifle back up as an omnic entered the room with Emily. Tracer's head began to pulse again as her emotions fought back against the drug she'd taken with Widowmaker. Her knees began to give out and shake as the pain in her wrist and leg creeped up her spine.

Morrison raised his gun. Lena sank to her knee's. He took aim as Lena looked up, her hand locked behind her.

"No…" she said. Sombra, stepped forward, placing both her hands on the console and leaning in.

"No. Way." She said as Widowmaker looked down at Tracer.

There was a flash at the end of the barrel and Emily's face contorted, the single shot, tore through her gut and her legs gave out. Morrison seemed to put the gun down and return to the console. Then, the omnic released Emily who collapsed to the floor, and left as she stretched out her hand for help.

The world seemed to recede around Tracer as she gawped at the screen. Sombra and the others turned to look at Tracer, tears streaming from her eyes, as Widowmaker walked into the room, to download the file which lead her here. The control room warped and unsettled her as her mind tried conveying emotion through perception. Edges faded and blurred as her eyes widened, trying to take in what she saw. She heard an explosion. Reaper said it was time to go as Sombra vanished. Gun fire erupted but Lena just knelt there, mouth open, as Widowmaker came before her.

"We will meet again, _Cherie_ " she said placing a chip between her lips. Tracer refocused her eyes on Widowmaker as sparks blew out of the main computer. Widowmaker planted a kiss on her lips and forced the chip down Lena's throat, which she dutifully swallowed. "I told you" she said softly, brushing the hair from Tracers face…

"I didn't kill her"


	4. Time to Pretend

Lena woke, her body ached all over as she began to regain her senses. Everything seemed brighter and more saturated as she blinked twice, adjusting her eyes to the blinding light of the infirmary. It was white and clinical, the smell of antibacterial wash and blood hung in the air as the doctor wiped sweat from her brow. Lena smiled faintly as Mercy brushed Lena's hair aside, rubbing dirt from her forehead. She turned her head to see a clear bowl, filled about an eighth of the way up with pink liquid, the rest, which sat above it was her blood and lots of it too. Next to it, on a small metal tray, sat a small device covered in bile. It must have been pulled from my stomach, Lena thought as she tried to speak. Mercy shushed her and moved her head to a more comfortable+ position.

"Nasty stuff that, Lena my dear" Angela sighed as she cleaned Lena up. "We found traces of it in Widowmakers blood" She cleaned the blood from beneath her nails and hung her overalls to dry on the rack as Lena tried to move.

"What's this, angie?" Lena asked, referring to the handcuff which bound her to the bed.

"A precaution, nothing more" she replied, smiling.

"For what?"

"That serum was found in Widowmakers blood, Lena" she said gravely. "and we have no idea what that chip was for"

"You think I'm gonna turn out like her?" Lena replied solemnly, she chewed her lip.

"nein, don't be silly Lena" she said quickly, her motherly nature on full show. Some time passed as Mercy went about her work and Lena wondered how to bring up what she'd seen. Finally, she decided it was best to be upfront about it.

"I saw something Angie, it was Morrison-"

The doctor cut her off. "Everyone heard it, Tracer" she said sternly. "Your delirious and demented rantings about Morrison are simply a side effect from the drugs you were given"

Tracer's heart sank. She'd dreamt it all up? Was everything she'd seen was wrong? Tracer spent the rest of the check-up sat in silence, staring at her bare feet. Mercy was unusually hostile after that as she plucked and picked her wounds with an uncharacteristic and deliberate harshness which seemed to tracer to do more harm than good.

"Jesus Angie, I'm sorry, alright?" Lena snapped as Mercy provoked her broken wrist one too many times. Mercy looked her over, a look of pity in her eyes let out a long sigh.

"It doesn't matter" she said "not anymore" and left the room, leaving Tracer chained to the bed.

 _Two days later…_

"It's about time you guys realised I'm not gonna hurt you, I can't wait to get back to Hana, I bet I can beat her this time!" Tracer giggled.

"Not quite" Ana said quickly. "You're going in to a segregated facility on the upper floor" she added, removing Lena's restraints and offering her a hand. Lena ignored it, jumping off the slab and collapsing to the floor in pain. "My dear, a lot more damage was done than a broken wrist and a torn-up calf" she added, a grim consolatory smile perched upon her face for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Tracer replied, groaning as the elderly woman pulled her to her feet.

"The serum we found in your veins messed up your central nervous system" She began.

"That's bad?"

"Yeah, there was also an issue with parts of your brain and we don't know why, hell, there was even some minor spinal damage."

"Spinal damage? That makes no sense, I remember-"

"You don't know what you remember, Tracer" Ana interjected sharply, "we've been over this"

Lena nodded and looked towards her feet again, she wasn't sure why, she just felt ashamed. She had, after all, fraternised with the enemy. The facility in question was located on the upper floors of Lijiang Tower, the last Overwatch base on the planet that the team could use. Tracer had heard that the Chinese government let them operate in the country with impunity to spite an unfavourable UN resolution, at least that was what Morrison had told them. It was state of the art and unlike Gibraltar, they didn't have to hide the fact they were there. From her new room, which was essentially floor 48 and 49 with no room's, Tracer could see the roof garden two floors down. Winston was shaking his head at someone, he looked irritated and a lot more animated than he usually was. Tracer couldn't make out the other figure but it had to be one of the higher ups.

Tracer was given free rein to do with the room as she pleased, which could mean only one thing: She'd be here a while.

 _1 month later..._

Lena had gotten to work immediately, she ordered several omnics, which she named Bill, Dave, and Harry and they built for her the ultimate Training room. The floor was resurfaced with a spongey material in case Lena fell from the various platforms she'd had installed in the ceiling. Dave had rigged a system so that they could be moved around by one of the omnics as she practiced, making them harder and more challenging. Bill had developed a new communicator and weapons for Lena, namely boost packs and a retractable hook, which was fitted in the new communicator on her wrist. Harry set about creating traps for the place. Every moment Lena wasn't in bed or the kitchen, she would have to be on her toes.

Tracer looked out over Shanghai from the small balcony she had to beg Morrison for, it had killed her to do it. Every smile and joke she made felt hollow after seeing what she'd seen regardless of whether it was real or not. It was simple and practical, no decorations were placed on it save for a few deck chairs, a cheap barbecue she knew she'd never use and a table. It was a waste of money really, no one would visit her except for daily check-ups with Angela and special requests from Morrison, which is why Lena fell back on her arse when Hana Song, Tracer's best friend and protégé, flew up to the balcony in her Mekka to meet her.

"Tracer!" She beamed, ejecting herself from the robot and launching herself towards Tracer, giving her a hug.

"Hana!" Tracer was ecstatic, Hana meant a lot to her, she'd taken the young girl under her wing when she'd joined Overwatch. Hana had been unlucky and was recruited only a year before the organisation fell, no one had time for making friends in those days. No one but Tracer anyways.

"I've missed you, Tracer," she began, offering a hand to Lena "they said you were dangerous"

Lena took her hand and hobbled to her feet with a pained grunt. "They did? Who?" she asked, confused as to why Mercy hadn't told her.

"Something about a woman called Amelie" she said crossing her legs on the deck chair. Lena regarded her slender frame, the skin tight mech suit clung to her curves like a glove, she was beautiful. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, which was unusual for her and it flew about in the wind like a flag.

"Widowmaker…" Lena said, leaning back on her chair and sighing "she was brainwashed years ago, Mercy reckons they injected me with the same stuff."

"How on earth did they manage to pin you long enough to do it, Trace?" she grinned "someone losing their touch?" she giggled as Lena poked a tongue at her.

"I was in a bad way, love" she smiled warmly at the young girl who looked upon her with empathy. "I forgot the golden rule" she lied, she'd wanted that release and it shamed her to admit it.

"You got tunnel vision" Hana replied instantly. Tracer chuckled lightly as she thought beck to the hours she'd spent teasing Hana. Zipping about, goading her, baiting her in to conflict. She was brash even now but she was better and safer for it.

"Hana?"

"What?"

"Has Morrison, y'know" Lena began, unsure how to proceed.

"Been acting weird? Yeah" Hana replied quickly. "Solo missions with zero planning, group missions with the UN, you name it, we're doing it now". This sent alarm bells ringing in Tracer's head, usually Morrison was a stickler for protocol, no solo missions and no missions without any kind of plan and fall back play. This was out of character but it wasn't as egregious as the idea of Morrison signing off on a mission with the UN, the Petras act banned overwatch operations and Morrison would never have taken such a risk before this incident. Lena assumed that whatever Talon had really learned at the Omnic Nerve Centre was the reason why Morrison's behaviour was so erratic.

"That's mad" she said truthfully "not forced you into anything, has he?"

"No… but" she paused, looking nervously at Tracer.

"McCree and Winston's relationship with Jack has completely broken down"

"Really?" Lena asked, sitting up.

"Yeah, something about your last mission I think, Winston is convinced the surgery did more damage to you than Widowmaker and Talon"

"No way…"

"Yes way"

"And McCree?" Lena asked.

"Not sure, I reckon his old blackwatch buddies started calling in favours again, Jack's had him hunting the last of them down."

"On his own?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Trace" she said truthfully, "It's all going weird" there was a short silence as Lena looked up at the sky, wondering what had happened and whether it was all her fault.

"Anyways!" Hana said, springing to her feet, "you can't spend _all_ day training, in your downtime you need to practice"

"you got me a gift?" Lena asked, sitting up instantly, grinning from ear to ear, which lit up at the prospect.

"You know it, girl!" Hana giggle as she unpacked a top of the range computer and called Dave and Bill over to set it up somewhere. "You are gonna be e-famous, my friend!"

"oh god" Lena giggled "and deal with your fans?"

"They aren't that bad!"

"Babe, they swatted you" Lena giggled

"That was in the early days" she said defensively " _and_ I incapacitated the swat team and still had time to win the match, if you remember"

Lena, of course did remember, it was what made Hana famous in the first place. "Well okay, Hana, but if I get even one dick pic, I'll train with the exclusive goal of kicking your arse."

"Sure thing" she grinned, Lena laughed knowing it was now bound to happen since she said it.

 _2 weeks later…_

Lena was recovering well, pushing herself too hard perhaps, but recovering well nonetheless. Sweat poured from her body as she balanced on her damaged leg, the pain flared up with every wobble. The goal was five minutes. Not long after Hana visited her, the Genji had begun to meet with her too. Every day at 3:23 Lena would wake to hear Genji knocking on the window, she'd let him in and they'd meditate and train together. Lena's reactions were as sharp and as precise as the cyborg's but he said she lacked focus and discipline. Tracer agreed as she remembered bolting off to find Widowmaker, abandoning Winston and nearly getting him killed.

As such, here she was, perched upon a bar, trying to ignore the pain in her leg.

"Strength, through perseverance, my friend" he said as the young woman winced. She was in her training gear, grey Overwatch sweatpants with the orange logo at the thigh, and a bright orange sports bra, with 'tracer' emblazoned on the back. Her hair was tied back behind her head, her brunette hair was longer than she was used to keeping it but Lena liked it, she liked the extra hassle that came with it. The room was a boring place and were it not for Tracer's determination, she'd have spent her days livestreaming with Hana and getting fat.

Lena thought about what her friend had said to her and she wondered if that was why Winston had not come to visit her. She'd been helpless as she dangled from the wire, watching him get swamped by his enemies. She'd betrayed him, she thought, her leg wobbling. What if Winston had refused to see her and that's why he'd been arguing with Morrison. The thought cost her balance as she slipped, falling through the air, she tried recalling but forgot that Genji wouldn't allow her to use the accelerator as a crutch. Genji, of course, caught her before she hit the floor as he always did.

"We'll end the session there, little one" he said stoically. "With each session, your focus grows but your mind is restless, you will need to solve your personal crisis if you ever wish to see the progress you are making".

Lena nodded and released herself from his grip before thanking him, "you're a great pal, Genji" she said, turning towards her bed and reaching for her accelerator.

"Thank you" she said, opening the door to the balcony.

She turned, "Has Winston said-" The ninja was gone.

 _3 days later…_

"aha! You're cold angie!" Lena giggled

"Indeed, so every time he hits the brakes on that _obnoxious_ chopper of his, it screams the lyrics to Lucio's 'Love is blind' he was _so_ annoyed" she giggled back, tightening the strap around Lena's arm.

"Is this _still_ necessary? I'vebeenfine, my wounds have healed – Ouch!"

Lena grimaced as Mercy squeezed her wrist, it was black, bruised from hours of training. "Yes, as long as you insist on not resting, you have to take this."

"So, it's not because you think I'm a murderous psychopath?"

"You know no-one thinks that"

"No, I don't" Lena snapped "I only know you don't" she said, seriously.

"What do you want, Lena?" Angela sighed.

"Visitors."

"No"

"Why the fuck not?" Lena seethed. "I've been stuck in here for almost two months! Amelie was around for two weeks!"

"You know what she did, Lena" Angela

"That doesn't mean _I will_!" Lena replied, her shoulders hunching and her frame receding. Mercy continued her work, refusing to answer the question at all. This enraged Lena, how _dare_ she judge her. In a moment of weakness, she was captured and tormented by the very person she thought had killed her girlfriend. How dare she, it was Mercy who failed to notice the serum in time to save Gerard, it was Morrison who let her get away when he caught her, standing over Ana's body. "Angela look at me." Lena said confidently. "Look at me." She repeated. "I'm in no shape to fight, you know that, let me have visitors and I won't bring up what I saw with Morrison."

"What you think you saw"

"perhaps, but if you keep on treating me like an enemy I'll start acting like one"

"You won't that's an order."

Lena paused, looking Angela straight in the eye. Her arm felt numb again as the healing agent soothed her wrist and repaired the damage.

"Don't I deserve better?" Lena asked after a long silence. Mercy, whenever this was brought up said nothing, perhaps to prove a point, or perhaps because she felt guilty. This was no different. She said nothing, not even looking in her eyes as she went about her work. Finally, she was done and put her tools away. Rising slowly and deliberately, she made for the door without saying a word. Lena, sat snivelling and holding back tears as she sat on the table, her arm was regaining its feeling and deep in the dark parts of her mind she longed for the release of that strange serum. She remembered the strange sights she saw that day and Angela's continued silence. The thought of conspiracy creeped into her head and it made her angry. It made Tracer so angry that she ripped off her damaged accelerator and threw it at Harry, causing him to explode. Lena's anger soon turned to icy fear as she realised she'd thrown it too far, her body began to fade as the disassociation kicked in.

Lena no longer cared and she ran at the door, her body morphing through it seamlessly. She sprinted towards Mercy as she disappeared from the doctor's perception of reality. She took a right, and Lena slowed as she came to a stop, watching her open the door to a darkened room filled with computers. Lena stepped in and her mouth dropped open. Every screen showed every inch of the large room that had held her hostage these past week. Lena felt herself being dragged out of time but she willed herself to remain, her body was gone but her conscience remained as she saw Ana step out of the shadows.

"I can't keep this up Ana" Mercy begged, surprising Lena as she burst into tears.

"You have to, until the antidote is ready you have to" She said, resting a hand on Mercy's shoulder. Mercy pushed it away. At first Lena was relieved that they were working hard to help her, the surveillance made sense if there was still a risk in her being corrupted by the strange serum.

"Why did it have to be Tracer?" she asked, snivelling "She's the poster child of Overwatch, it had to be her, Morrison said so". Tracer became confused, making sense of the conversation was hard enough.

"Well we know you haven't told her. God, if she knew that all she was given was crystal fluridoxolapzine she'd hit the roof." Ana said, before taking a sip from her tea. Mercy nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from her eyes. Crystal fluridoxolapzine was the most illegal street drug in the world. Its pure form was borderline deadly but the watered-down street version was cheap and definitely deadly. Overwatch were contracted to help restore order to the Philippines after its use became so rampant the economy collapsed and the country descended into chaos. The thing Lena remembered most about it was that it leaves the system _very_ quickly. Lena couldn't hit anything but she wished she could, what had they been pumping her full of then?

"Are the trials having any effect, at least?" Angela asked, looking up at Ana as she sat down on the office chair.

"No" said Morrison as he walked in the room, striding about as if he owned the place. "and it won't, according to Winston" Lena moved herself in front of him, looking him in the eye. "We're going to modify the accelerator instead".

"what if she finds the control chip, what if Winston tells her?" Mercy exclaimed, springing quickly from her seat. Lena was stunned. _Control chip?_ Why the hell did she need a control chip? "Winston already thinks we're up to something and there's no way he'd betray Lena like that, they're best friends!" Mercy cried.

"I have my ways, trust me this is what needs to happen" he said.

"I do trust you, Jack, but this will end badly if Winston gets involved" Suddenly, everyone's head snapped to the screen as Tracer received a call from Hana. She'd forgot that Hana wanted to stream with her and the three senior members of Overwatch began to panic.

"Where is she?" Morrison demanded.

"Oh god, look, her accelerator!" Ana said pointing to it on the floor.

"Let's go, we have to get her back!" Morrison said, blasting through the door. Lena moved too, her consciousness reappeared inside the accelerator as her body began to return. Standing up, she held herself, realising slowly what she'd just done. Her face was still gawking in amazement as the trio burst into the room.

"Ana! Jack!" she said blinking over to them and throwing her arms around them. It was all she could to hide her tears and hugging them took more strength than she thought it would.

"I'm so glad you came to visit, I've missed everyone so much!" she beamed, hoping her smile could convince them she didn't want to curl up and hide or run away. They looked utterly stunned as she stepped back, Mercy and Ana left slowly as Jack put a hand on her shoulder.

"Look kiddo, just a few more days and you'll be out of here, alright?" Lena nodded unconvincingly and he turned and walked away. Leaving her alone with her thoughts.

That night at 3:00 AM, Lena heard a noise on the balcony. She jumped out of bed, expecting to find Genji but instead she came face to face with Widowmaker.

"what are you doing here?" Lena asked, drawing her pistols.

"I've come to collect something, _cherie_ " she replied, putting away her weapon and grappling to the kitchen.

"Oi!" Lena shouted after her and jumped up to her using the booster packs. "get out of my fridge!" she said as she tried to stop her. Widowmaker moved quickly, pinning Lena and putting her arm behind her back. Tracer screeched at the pain.

"A little pressure and its broken again, little one" she cooed. "Being locked up in here has made you soft, and being out in the field with no competition is bad for me too you know." Lena's heart jumped a little at the praise.

"I know" was all she could say as Widowmaker released her and returned to the fridge. "What are you here for, really?" Lena asked again. "breaking into Overwatched headquarters to steal left-over pasta seems a bit over the top" she said, crossing her arms.

"We're here for you" a voice said from behind. Lena jumped as Sombra appeared next to her. "By the way, getting in here is a lot easier than you'd think."

"You don't seem to be trying to kidnap me at all" Lena said after a brief pause.

"Well," Widowmaker took a moment to swallow some pasta, " _you_ don't seem to be trying too hard to stop us" she said indifferently, before going back to eating Lena's pasta.

"Which is why we think you'll come willingly" Sombra said before Tracer could interject.

Tracer scoffed "what makes you think I'd ever do that, love?" she said, her usual cockiness bubbled to the surface.

"Wait until Winston and leave, then get back to us" Sombra said confidently.

"what?" Lena said, but there was a quick knock on the window. It was Winston and Hana. Lena turned to look at the talon agents but both had disappeared, the pasta bowl was still rolling over the floor.

Quickly she blinked to the ground floor and let the pair in. "Tracer it's awful!" Hana cried.

"hey hey," Lena soothed her, drawing her into a much-needed embrace.

"Winston tell her!"

The Gorilla sighed and told Lena what Morrison had asked him to do. He wanted Lena's new accelerator fitted with a control chip for something. "Lena I can't let that happen, it would allow him to make you do whatever he wanted, he'd have control, total control, of your time stream" he looked to the door with a worried expression on his face as Mercy knocked on it.

"Lena are you okay?" came the muffled question "the scan says you are hallucinating again"

Winston pointed to the door, "It's a lie!"

Lena's head spun, it took a while to process it all but Winston and Hana pulled her to the balcony. "Go Lena!" Hana said as Morrison, Ana, Mercy, and Genji burst into the room. "We will hold them off." Winston unleashed his rage as Morrison opened fire, Dave and Bill turned on Hana as she fought them off with her pistol, expertly shooting their heads off. Genji drew his sword at Winston as Ana was launched against the wall. Mercy left to help her as Winston took a cut to the rib. Roaring in pain he threw himself at Morrison as Hana dragged Tracer to the edge of the balcony.

"Let's go, Trace" she begged.

"but-"

"Winston told me this is the plan, we need to get to the port, catch me or I'll die!" and she jumped over the railing. Lena instinctually followed suit, sliding down the modern architecture and catching up to her friend. At the bottom, Tracer blinked, changing the momentum of their run so that they wouldn't become paste. A guard in an Overwatch uniform approached them.

"Hands up Trac-" he fell over, screaming in pain as Hana put a bullet in his knee. More agents followed them as they darted through the narrow streets of shanghai. Sirens could be heard as they darted and ducked through alleyways, avoiding the manhunt as best they could.

The pair took a brief pause in the house of one of Hana's top subscribers. She knocked him out with a round house kick as he opened the door. "You might have lost a backer but at least he won't be jailed" Tracer giggled.

"That guy sends me femdom porn all the time, that freak will be jerking to that for the rest of his life." Hana said, giggling too. They closed the door and looked at the body. "Should we move him, Trace?" Hana asked, more serious.

"No, that'll make it look like this wasn't random." Tracer replied. "When I was really young I got nicked because I left fingerprints on a guy I knocked out and they traced it" she laughed.

There was a knock on the door and the laughing stopped, the pair ran to the roof as the police burst in, rushing after them. The outside air was chilly and had a fierce bite to it and a police chopper shone its search beam down on them as the duo began to run to the pier again. Tracer boosted high into the air and extended the hook, it clamped onto the landing rail beneath the chopper and she shot the light out with her pistols before retracting the hook and blinking back to Hana who jumped over to another roof to avoid a particularly adept policeman. Tracer looked back and saw Morrison and Genji among the pack that had emerged to chase them down and spurred herself on, dragging Hana along with her. With the pier in sight Lena jumped from the roof with Hana in her arms and rushed into an open square where reaper stood, alone.

"Hello Tracer" he said in that ghastly voice of his. "You have thirty seconds and two choices, join us or everyone dies"

There was a brief pause as Hana and Tracer looked around the square. "What about Hana?" she asked after noticing all the exits were covered by Talon agents.

"She stays" he said bluntly.

"I'll come if you help her"

"What?!" Hana said in shock "Tracer, you wouldn't"

"I'm trying to get you out alive, Hana, trust me" Tracer said looking deep into Hana's eyes as Reaper agreed, signalling to .

"Fine. But don't you _dare_ end up like them" she said.

"I promise." Lena said as Sombra appeared from the sky, dropping from one of Talons stealth VTOL's and taking Hana in her arms. She winked at Tracer, before knocking Hana out and returning to the VTOL. Tracer, who's skin crawled at the thought of what she'd just done, looked up to see Widowmaker descend deftly to the ground on her grapple hook as Talon mercenaries opened fire on the police and Overwatch agents who rushed the square. She punched Lena in the gut, who fell to the floor. Widowmaker slapped a pair of restraints on her and held her close as they rose into the air.

Below, she could see Morrison, Ana, and Mercy staring up at them and she continued to meet Morrisons gaze until the bay doors shut and Reaper chuckled before crouching in front of her.

"I give her 2 weeks" he said, holding her face up by her chin.

"I say 3" Sombra said, brandishing a fifty-pound note, "Widow?"

"I'll take nine"

"nine days? That's a little harsh, she's one of their best."

"Non" she replied, meeting the young girls gaze, "nine months" she added, handing over her fifty.

"That's unlike you Widowmaker, do you need reprogramming again?" said Reaper, who stood up, mocking the sniper.

"what's the bet for?" Lena asked meekly, looking up at her captors.

"How long until we break you, silly" said Sombra, winking.

 _End of Part 1._


	5. House of the Rising Sun

Part Four, House of the Rising Sun.

There was a deep bright orange light shining through the tiny window that day, the lone décor of the room was a small bucket and a clock. The clock was mechanical and clunked loudly as each second passed. She knew they changed it periodically just to mess with her, she'd counted it enough times to be sure of that. Basking in the heat, Lena held her plank, hoping to break her record of five minutes. Her brow, furrowed with determination, was covered, like the rest of her body, in a thin layer of perspiration. A single drop of sweat dropped from her face as she approached five minutes. The cell was bathed in the Saturn glow of the sunset that day and Lena looked up at the lone patch of sky shed been staring at for several months. She wondered about Hana, and hoped she'd been released as she'd asked. The thought of her best friend cursing her name as she rotted away in a cell made Lena's stomach churn. Tracer had lost count of her exercise too and gave up, grabbing the plastic bottle of water and downing half as she sat against the concrete wall. The sunset reminded her of the golden era, the simpler times just after the end of the first Omnic crisis. She remembered playing tag with Winston and Genji. She remembered going to Gerard to talk about her love life in his office. It was that she missed the most, just the carefree nature of the time. Everyone was hopeful after all, Omnic rights groups spread like wildfire as people came to trust them more. The golden hue was similar to Gibraltar in the evening and Lena thought of the last time she was there as she poured the rest of the water over herself to cool off.

Morrison was dead, or so they had all thought, and so was Gerard. The British government had to hand them over to the UN following the passing of the Petras act. Rain poured over them as each remaining operative bid goodbye to Winston and vanished into the world.

"I'm just a call away, big guy" she had told him, sniffing. He nodded and embraced her before being told to go inside as she was pushed into the VTOL and whisked away to London.

The golden times returned to a degree, she thought. Taking control of Lijiang Tower brought everyone back together and things were good for a while. However, Talon had become more and more insidious in its methods. Contacts, agents and benefactors were killed or intimidated and soon Overwatch was broke and desparate. "Then…" Lena said aloud, "Emily…" she noted solemnly, holding back a tear.

Her fist clenched as she thought about that room, about the modifications to her accelerator and of Morrison shooting her lover. Maybe it was all true? She thought to herself again, she dismissed it once more as a misunderstanding, still in denial that Morrison could be responsible. He was her friend after all.

Lena remembered the first nights she slept in this barren chamber. She was beaten and tortured. Each meal only came after she injected herself with the Crystal fluridoxolapzine that was pushed under the small gap beneath the large imposing door which took up the width of her cell. The torture was brutal and relentless. If she became too willing to use the drug, she was deprived of it, her body splashing about the arid cell in withdrawal induced fits. If she slept to comfortably on the cell floor, they flooded her cell with icy water. Widowmaker would sit outside the cell for hours, mocking her.

"Oh my beautiful girl!" she would coo, "Emily would dread to see you now" she gloated with all the pomp and circumstance befitting of a French woman. At first, Lena fought back, endless beatings and escape attempts dogged her for those first weeks. As the second month rolled around the icy chills of night crept into her room, at that time she lost weight at an alarming rate and a doctor declared her anorexic by February. Depriving herself of food was never something Tracer did, she'd been small out of choice but being caged up and unable to even feed herself finally broke her spirit. At that time, she'd do anything for a meal, her most trying experience was when Reaper offered her information regarding Hana.

"Eat the dog food, and I'll tell you what we did to her" he'd said to her with an indifference that she should have picked up on, even in her sorry state. By now, Lena felt it was poetic justice for Lena to have been so grossly mistreated. Lena shuddered as she remembered practically eating it out of his hand. 'I hadn't eaten for almost a week!' she rationalised to herself before shaking her head. It didn't matter anymore, Hana was either safe or dead or worse, it was beyond her control. She frowned at her indifference and thought that maybe the drug they were filling her with really was rewriting her.

Lena readjusted her now long hair, tied into a messy bun on the back of her head. The following months were easier, after submitting to Reaper in the cell that night she was taken off the drugs and allowed to eat normal food again. This didn't last long of course, Reaper strode into her cell as she was pissing into the drain in the corner one day and threw down a set of training clothes. They were a tight but comfortable pair of shorts and sports bra, jet black in colour with the number 1037 printed on the back. She put them on and was taken to a room filled with obstacles and cover and told to 'survive' by Reaper.

Lena closed her eyes and remembered the first time vividly. Upon the gantry was her accelerator, held by a guard. He was stood next to a group of shadowy figures who were all clad in black. Reaper would always announce over the tannoy system: "Join us, or die". Then, Talons best agents would spring from behind the cover and attack her with knives.

" _What the fuck is this?" she'd shouted angrily as she ran from her pursuers. Dodging a flying kick by sliding beneath a barrier and rounding the corner, using the momentum to knock out an agent._

That first time she didn't pick up the knife from the guard. "Stupid" Lena said aloud. "Sloppy and stupid" she repeated.

" _Join us and you'll never be caged again, Tracer" said a voice over the noise of the fight._

" _Fuck. You." She said, defiantly, laughing as she incapacitated another agent._

" _You are powerless" it said as Tracer was cornered, and stabbed in the abdomen._

Lena chuckled, it hadn't happened since. She'd trained relentlessly after that.

Sombra visited her in hospital, materialising before her bed to chastise Lena.

" _You cost me and Reaper a hundred bucks." She said nonchalantly as she pulled up a chair._

" _Every little victory" Lena replied, her usual cockiness bubbled inside her and burned in the recesses of her tired eyes._

" _Well you could make it easier on yourself, you know." She said, sighing as the bright morning light cascaded over her olive skin. Lena turned away and she disappeared again._

Sombra often appeared out of nowhere to goad her into joining them. Saying how easy it would be. Lena spat at that word. _Easy._ Having principles was hard but worth it, raw grit and determination always kept her ahead of Talon and it would help her survive them too. However, Talon grated on her sensibilities as the months wore on and as Talon increased its psychological manipulation it dialled down the torture and beatings, until one day they stopped hurting her altogether. She dared to say she secretly enjoyed it as she thought back to the session earlier that day.

" _I get better, love, do your agents?"_ Lena recalled saying to the voice as the exercise was conducted. At first, she wanted information but now she was just content with the interaction and, if she was honest, the praise. The reply woke her up from the easier times with a cold, sharp, slap to the face.

" _If you reach the point where we no longer challenge you and you still refuse the power we offer, we will have no use for you, or " Lena was halfway through putting an agent in the recovery position but she stopped in her tracks. They'd used against her before, Lena was convinced she was dead, they wouldn't show her any proof of her living. She had grieved for her friend but today she finally had enough of the announcers veiled threats._

" _What can you offer me?" she said, screaming angrily at no one. In frustration, she kicked a wounded agent in the arm she broke. "No accelerator, no guns, no defeats since the first, what can I possibly do to get out of here!"_

 _There was a long pause. The silence was deafening when not interrupted by groaning Talon operatives._

" _Look on the gantry, Lena" it said at last. Lena did and there was nothing out of the ordinary at first, just the same group of darkened, faceless men who observed her occasionally._

" _What are you-" and then she realised. "My accelerator!" she said, gasping, looking around desperately._

" _It's been gone for the last 23 sessions, Lena." It said bluntly. "You not only tethered yourself to our reality but you also managed to fight off the beta stream applicants as you did it."_

 _Lena looked up at the gantry in utter disbelief. "I'm here?" she touched her chest. "How is this possible?" she asked._

" _a combination of our top scientist and sheer force of will, apparently" the voice replied, seemingly mystified itself._

" _Is it permanent?"_

" _It could be possible, but only if you join us, you have three hours to decide"_

Lena stood up, debating internally the path she had to choose as she yawned and stretched. She could refuse. Stand up for her values and morals but what had they gotten her? It had been almost a year since she was captured and no one had come. Winston and her left instantly after Emily died, they'd gone rogue to do it but no such effort was made for Tracer it seemed. Then there was Morrison. These months had taken a toll on her and Lena was pretty open to the thought of finding out just what happened in that Omnium, if only to resolve this whole thing. Going down that route, accepting their offer guaranteed only one thing: Betraying Overwatch.

A mirror and a pair of scissors were then slid under the door as they were every third week. She picked up the mirror and looked up at herself, she'd gained 20 kilograms easily, her face was gaunt and more defined but her eyes seemed muted and colourless. Lena maintained the length of her hair, she took an inch off as it fell just above her shoulders. She hadn't had it this long since she came out to her parents and Lena laughed aloud at her petty display. She liked the cut then, she felt like she was making a choice. The reality was that she was just following the short hair trend that had broken out at the time. She looked herself over as she noticed her muscular abdomen, each muscle looked distinct as she tensed and tightened her body and she looked less boyish than she used to. The high calorie diet that Talon had fed her these months added to her bust, and her thighs were thicker and more sculpted in their profile. She smiled a cynical grin, at least she looked brilliant.

Her accelerator was carried by an officer above her, he followed her whenever she was removed from her cell, which was everyday around noon. She would take two lefts one first and the second after passing four intersections. The facility was clearly housing all of Talons kidnapped victims. Based on her own treatment, Lena was pretty sure that each person was evaluated for endurance, perseverance and raw natural talent. Over time Lena had learned she was the 'alpha stream' or the elite candidates for Talon, reserved for only the highest-level victims, this is probably how Amelie was turned. Then, the door sprung open and Reaper stepped through it.

"Get up." He said bluntly.

Tracer did as she was told, she had learned the hard way what disobedience brought. Reaper's presence was an oddity, usually it was a faceless grunt that carted her about the base so Reapers attendance, which was the first time she'd seen him properly since she was taken, unnerved the poor girl to no end. She became even more worried as the masked criminal yanked her a different way than she was used to, instead taking a right into a small interrogation room. She was chained to the chair and sat for a long time, waiting for Reaper to return, only he didn't. About five hours into her newest form of torture Sombra appeared in front of her, making her jump.

"How's it going, _love_ " she mocked before punching Lena square in the jaw. "Oh, you are real tough aren't you, little bitch cost me and the boss a hundred!" punch.

"I know, you said tha-" Lena began. A hard slap stung her face.

"No, that's not how this works" she said wafting her hand in the air. "I ask, you answer" Punch. "and occasionally I hit you anyway, got it?"

Lena nodded.

"Good" Sombra said, taking a small tablet from her bag. An image flashed onto the screen. "Who is this?" she asked.

Lena looked Sombra in the eye, "its Morrison", she said, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Just then, Reaper returned.

"ah good, now _I_ don't have to hit you" she smiled. To emphasise it, Reaper slammed her face into the metal desk and burst a vessel in the nose.

"ah fuck!" Lena shouted as blood rushed down her face. He hit her again in the gut.

"Look, _darling_ " Sombra mocked again, "you speak when spoken to, now who is this."

"Emily…" Tracer said, looking down at her feet.

"Gonna need specifics, love" Sombra teased.

"My girlfriend, she was there as a representative for Amnesty International, a-a-an ambassador for the displaced Omnics."

"u-u-u-u-uh I don't care!" she giggled as Lena glared at the young woman, who looked at her honestly. "That explains your sloppiness, clear headed, you are a match for anyone." Lena looked back her feet, noticing the faint scar on her calf.

"Any idea what Morrison was doing?"

"where?"

Punch.

"Don't be an idiot"

"I don't know what I saw, Mercy said it was a hallucination!" Lena pleaded, no longer as used to the beatings as she was several months ago.

"Why?"

"Because it's the truth, Widowmaker gave me something when you captured me"

"Babe, that was Crystal fluridoxolapzine. When you arrived, you had spinal damage and memory loss, Crystal ain't a hallucinogenic drug either"

"no…" said Lena, lost for words. "so they did something to me?" she asked "Is that why I can control my time stream again? Did they save me?" she beamed, hope filling her lungs like the scent of a summer rose.

"no," Reaper interjected, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Lena looked up at the towering figure his large body cast a shadow over her as she tensed up, waiting to be struck. Then she looked back at the image on the pad, a video playing over and over of Morrison, executing her girlfriend.

"The question is whether you want to find out what they did" Sombra said, standing up as reaper left the room. She unlocked Lena's restraints and placed them on the table alongside the tablet. She also placed several syringes on the desk too. "A little pick me up" she said winking "Also because I feel super guilty about the whole torture thing we've had to do this last year." She said backing out the door. Lena looked the three syringes and pushed them away as the door clicked shut. She'd gotten clean, and she hadn't felt the same since.

Several hours later Widowmaker slipped into the room and sat before her, arms crossed. The pair stared eachother down for almost five minutes before Widowmaker spoke.

"For someone who found out that the closest man she had to a father just murdered the only woman she'd ever loved, you're surprisingly calm" she smirked.

Tracer held up her handcuffed arm. "Not much I can do about it, is there love?" she sighed.

"Aw, where's the fiery girl I toyed with on my nights out?"

"Up yours"

"Is Mondatta still a touchy subject, _Cherie?_ "

"Fuck. You."

Widowmaker chuckled and picked a syringe and sunk it deep into her veins. "mmmm" she sighed, her body relaxed and she sighed heavily as she fell under its influence. "you know…" she slurred "addicts tend to lose the ability to feel after a while" she grinned. Tracer said nothing and continued to stare down her tormentor. "You know this, of course, how else could you remain so rational?"

Widowmaker took the second syringe and injected it. After the intitial buzz receded Lena spoke once again. "Is that how you rationalised your kidnapping?" she spat, "with drugs?"

"There she is, _Cherie,_ I've missed you!" she taunted. "No, I'm well aware of my programming and about some of what happened to me" she held a finger up as Tracer opened her mouth to interject. "This is mandatory for me, it helps with-"

"the guilt?"

"no, losing my emotions" she snapped back. "If you're gonna lose them anyway, why put it off?"

Lena folded her arms as best she could, "do I have to lose them?"

Widowmaker scoffed, "with what you're going to do" she held out the needle, "you're not going to want them". Lena supposed she was right, Talon would set her free, and show her the truth.

"Okay" she said at last, taking the syringe. "I'll join you"

Several weeks passed and Lena settled into life at Talon with ease. Its regimented lifestyle provided her with a myriad of distractions as she tried to conduct her business without facing up to the fact that she was betraying everything she had ever stood for. The thought was always there of course however, a wall of rationalisations and a growing desire for power and the freedom that would bring, drove her further into the arms of Talon with each passing day.

She woke in a large room filled with lab equipment. "Hans!" Reaper barked abruptly, looking down on her. In the centre of the room, at a cluttered desk, a man who was sleeping woke, knocking the various parts of tech onto the floor. The man, who must have been at least six feet tall, scurried about, apologising and retrieving his various instruments now scattered about the floor.

Hans was tall and kind, his dirty blonde hair was long, wild and unkempt and somewhat stereotypical of the scientist he was. He was an older guy, his skin was rough around the jaw, a bearded shadow cast over the lower portion of his face made him seem more rugged and weather beaten. He pushed an oddly modern set of glasses up his nose and set his deep blue eyes into focus on the young girl, who sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Fill her in and let her explore a little, she needs to meet everyone." She heard him say as she slowly got up. The man rushed over to her, lab equipment in hand.

"Zere Zere" he spoke in a German accent, and tested her vitals with a strange device.

"what happened to me?" she asked seriously.

"You overdosed on pure Crystal fluridoxolapzine" it knocked you clean out.

"It felt good" Tracer said in shame. "What is that stuff, doc?"

"It's based on the serum that turned Reaper into" he paused "into Reaper I suppose" he chuckled to himself, before looking over his shoulder to make sure Reyes had left as he helped Lena to her feet and handed her a grey hoodie. "It's called the progenitor serum, everyone's looking for the last vial, or how to recreate it. You should go easier on it, Tracer."

Lena shook her head, "I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't use it, Doc."

"I was in your position you know, Tracer" he said, checking her arm.

"You were?"

"Ya, it was" he paused and looked her in the eye "you know Angela?"

"You know Mercy?!" Lena smiled, "Where is she, is she coming for me?" she whispered, looking about frantically.

He chuckled, "No, definitely not for me anyways" he tied a cotton bud to her arm and extracted some of the Crystal from her blood. "She's my cousin"

"No way" Lena said, half intrigued, half depressed. "What happened?"

"I uh- approved the use of a chemical weapon for blackwatch but I messed it up" he lowered his head in shame this time. "One mistake and they threw me out, literally her own family as well."

"Blimey, that's rough" Lena replied honestly. "I didn't realise we were so ruthless. Sorry, love."

"Eh, it was before your time, not your fault." He said, draining the last of the crystal from her veins.

"Ouch!" she yelped.

"Every little victory as they say" he grinned up at her and Lena burst out laughing.

"I didn't realise it was such a cheesey line" she giggled.

"You are a hero, cheesiness comes with the territory, no?" he cleaned up her arm and handed her a tissue for her blood encrusted face.

"well, I was a hero" she smiled "now I'm an international terrorist" she sighed, leaning back. "What did Reaper mean when he said fill me in?"

"Ah, yes!" Hans got up excitedly

Lena let the man talk as she slowly walked about. "English please, love" Lena asked, cutting the man off in the middle of a rant about flux capacitors.

"Ah- sorry, essentially, we want to help you unlock your potential, Tracer" he said, "Look at this" he brought up a diagnostic scan of her body.

"Science ent my strong suit, love" she giggled "what is this?" Hans explained that it was demonstrating an anomaly around her spine.

"We believe that you can multiply you power, Lena" you just need to train with us and help us on missions.

"I can't believe I chose to help Talon" she said bluntly.

"We all find ourselves in places we do not wish to be" Hans said seriously as he clicked around the screen and revealed footage of the escape from Lijiang Tower. "You literally morphed through a wall, Lena." He carried on excitedly. "Imagine all the things you could do with that in combat, all the good you could bring about with this kind of power. Not to mention the stealth and infiltration applications of some tweaks to your accelerator"

"So, they want my abilities."

"I don't know what 'they' want at all" he held up Lena's accelerator. "Talon's objectives are known to pretty much no one you'll ever meet, I doubt even Reaper knows to what end he's working to." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Look, Talon is a chance for talented people with nowhere to go to do what they love, we offer the truly dispossessed a chance at living. Three square meals and companionship y'know?"

Lena thought on this for a moment, "that's something I'd never thought of to be honest" she said truthfully, "I just assumed everyone here was evil".

"Everyone is here by choice, Lena, most are here just here to stick it to the man" he went back to typing away at the console. "We have no ideology, we don't care about the bigger picture, that's for the higher ups. We just enjoy the company and the job, it's simple."

"Okay." Lena said at last, "I agreed to stay, I want to control my timestream."

"Fantastic, let's work on setting you free." He beamed, removing a plate on the rear of the device.

From then on, Lena was mostly confined to the lab as Hans tinkered away. She would work out and talk to him as he slaved away and the two became incredibly close. He reminded her of Winston in many ways, especially when he lost his glasses. She'd always giggle as parts and papers were tossed about the messy room, only for the klutz to discover them in his pocket. When the device was completed on the eve of her 25th birthday, Lena was ecstatic as she and Hans began training to use the new modifications. It was hours later, just before her birthday when she started to get the hang of it.

"You're an impressive person, Tracer" he smiled, please with his work.

"Cheers, love!" Tracer replied excitedly, fading in and out of reality with ease. "What exactly can I do now?"

"Well the frame is disassociated with you, so it will disappear with you, essentially, your body and clothes leave but the device has more power allocated to retaining your mind within your time stream."

Tracer stared at him blankly.

"Your mind stays here and decides where your body reappears, or can simply observe in a formless state"

"Ah, can't wait to try it out in the field" Tracer said, blinking to the mirror. "pfft-now I remember why I kept my hair short" she complained, brushing her hair out of her face.

"I prefer it as is, personally" he smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Me too, Hans" she smiled, spinning to face him. Tracer threw her arms around the man, "Thank you."

The doors slid open at the opposite side of the room and Reaper stepped through it followed by three men. Both clad in suits and sporting suits the first two men approached Lena as the third and Reaper took Hans to one side.

"Hello Tracer," one of them said, their accent American, but generic and indistinct. The man who spoke was over six feet, black and bald. He was softly spoken but his large and outstretched hand engulfed Lena's as she shook it, nervously. "we've been watching you with great interest"

"Glad to have you join us" said the second man.

"I'm not exactly glad to be here," Lena said cautiously.

"I'm sure that will change over time. At the very least, you deserve answers from Overwatch, no?" the Asian gentleman said coyly.

Lena nodded in agreement and the first man continued. "Talon, is your new home Lena, respect our trust and you will have all the money, power and influence you will ever need."

"I'm grateful for my accelerator, sir, it's just that-" she bowed slightly "I just want the truth is all"

"So do we" the tall man agreed as he adjusted his tailored suit from Saville Row.

"I don't believe you"

"nor would we expect you too, in time perhaps"

Lena folded her arms. "Why didn't you just kill me?" she asked, "you had plenty of chances."

"Don't assume our motives, little one" the tall man said, pushing one of Lena's bangs behind her ear. "You had a sponsor, a very esteemed sponsor indeed."

"Who, Widowmaker?" she asked but the man scoffed.

"She's barely a person" the Asian laughed, "instruments like her and reaper don't get a choice in the matter"

"Although I hear she was pleased you came on board" said the taller man, winking.

"The founder himself sponsored you, Tracer" the taller man said quietly, "if you ever need help, give _us_ a call" he said. Tracer nodded but sensed his insincerity and figured it was part of a power play.

The two men looked toward the third figure as he approached them. They bowed obediently and took their leave as the familiar man placed a hand on her shoulder.

" _You"_ she spat, "You're head of Talon?!" she seethed.

"Now now, Tracer, give me a moment to explain myself" he backed up slightly and held his hands up at her.

"You better, _fast_ " she clenched her fists.

"Everything I said that night was true, I was there on behalf the government and I had no idea what was going to happen"

"Why were you there?" Tracer began to pace about, holding her hands in her hair. "Was everything altered?" she looked back at the familiar man, "You made me betray them" she said, gasping.

"We were there for the same reasons that you were there"

"Why?" she snapped back

"You aren't authorised to know." He retorted somewhat robotically, a learned response from dealing with subordinates.

"Fuck authorisation, I want answers" Lena was flustered and angry. "I can't even tell what's real anymore!" she crouched on her knees, holding her stomach.

"Trust me, there's nothing more to say."

"Trust you, I don't even know your name." Lena said, looking up at the man.

"Would you like to find out?"

"of course" Lena stood up slowly, looking the older gentleman over.

"Great, then you'll have no problem earning the privilege" he laughed and spun on his heels and Tracer cursed her situation, storming off towards her bed in a foul mood.

After that, Lena decided she had to leave, she couldn't put up with the rigidity of Talon anymore but most of all, she couldn't bear to go through with her betrayal. Lena had enough, she bolted towards the door, morphing through it, and blinked down the corridor towards the lift.

"Tracer, no!" she heard Hans scream out as the alarms were sounded.

She was surprised they hadn't come after her as she stepped out the lift and into a large office adorned with modern art and minimalist furnishings. She rushed to the desk and rummaged through the drawers, hunting for a weapon. She finally came across a pistol and loaded it expertly, heading into an adjacent room to hide. Turning on the light and realised it was a kitchen after noticing several pictures on the door of nearby fridge. One of them was of her in London. She picked it up, the blood turning to ice in her veins. Behind her, a sound cause Lena to twitch, and she spun quickly, aiming her gun at her opponent.

A small girl stared her back, frozen in place in fear. They stood like that for what felt like too long until the man stepped into the room. "Tracer! I see that uh, you've met my daughter" he said feigning confidence and stepping in front of her, his hands raised. He removed the black aviators he usually wore. "It's me, remember?" he said.

"I'm getting out, I've had enough of your mind games" Lena said, sure of herself.

"You agreed to stay, you're staying"

"Why would you care?"

"because we've put a lot of effort into making sure you're the most powerful person in the world, pet"

Lena lashed out in frustration. "I am not an animal you can just cage up and domesticate" Lena smirked, feeling more confident with her new abilities.

"On the contrary." He lowered his hands, and removed a controller from his back pocket. "nothing has changed for you, I'm afraid". He put a hand on the gun and another on the small of her back.

"Lena you have the potential to be so much greater than you are, join us and we will forge a world as you want it." He said, leading her to a chair.

"Wh-why am I doing this?" Lena asked him in confusion, her body moving against her own orders.

"We own you now," he smiled evilly, a deft waft of the hand brought Lena's eyes to the controller. She'd lost, she'd taken power and

"You want me as some kind of mercenary, a hired killer" she said, sitting down, pulling her hood back.

"Aren't you already?" he smirked. It was true, Overwatch had no legitimacy, not anymore.

"Even if Morrison was responsible" she began "I couldn't betray the rest of them"

"Eventually you will have to pick a side Lena, or one will be picked for you." He said, lighting a cigar. "Join us and become the most powerful person in the world, learn what Morrison is hiding, and get your revenge."

Lena dropped her head, shame washed over her as she considered it. "This isn't fair…" she said quietly.

"No it _really_ isn't," the man sympathised, "give us a chance though, love" he teased "you might just find you like it." He said as Tracer looked down at the photo she held in her hand and turned it over.

 _Emily,_

 _Never be afraid to do the right thing! The world could always use more heroes!_

 _Love,_

 _L. Oxton_

After placing it on the table and wiping away a tear, Tracer nodded, "Okay, alright."

She looked up at him and he smirked as her eyes hardened, and she steeled herself for the inevitable battle to come.

"I'll join you."


	6. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

" _You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"_

The words hung in the air like the pungent smell of rotting food as Tracer spewed over the wall, the contents of her stomach rolling into the gutter and joining the slime which lined it. Sombra pat her on the back as she wretched and spluttered, clutching her abdomen. Her two captors laughed at her as she sank to her knees dramatically and sniffed back her tears. Lena leant over the body and franticly sought out it's ID tag. Blood seeped from the multitude of wounds on the front of his body and Lena noticed the silver-balled chain, which had fallen inside the collection of bullet wounds around his chest. She considered pulling the tag out but the thought made her wretch again as Widowmaker swung down from the rooftop above the alley.

"We don't have time for this, Reaper" she said, placing a hand on her hip. The shadowy man nodded with a grunt and turned to Sombra who stopped giggling at Tracer and snapped to mock attention.

"Sombra, secure the safe house, we'll meet you there." Reaper yanked Tracer to her feet as Widowmaker returned to the roof. Shots erupted from across the busy street and terrified civilians flooded the alley. Lena looked back as the crowd stomped over the lifeless body, too scared to notice him. Reaper darted through the streets of Hanamura and Lena struggled to keep pace with him, her mind too unfocused to be of much use. This whole mission had been a disaster, the enemies of the Shimada had come after them, Hanzo was unable to find his contact within the clan and Overwatch turned up too. The resulting chaos had the Japanese Defence Force mobilised and half the city on lockdown under martial law as local discontent boiled over into violent riots. Everything caused and funded by a string of donors, originating from Talon. Tracer slid to a halt as Reaper engaged a group of Overwatch agents.

"Go back, I'll cover you!" he barked. Lena backed off but came face to face with a local police team. She darted behind them and knocked them down, pulling one into another using her new retractable hooks. The second pair jumped her, tackling Lena to the floor but she recalled to rescue herself. She was back in the alley again, faced with the impossible choice as the two men looked at each other.

"Tracer?" one of them said, their voice drenched in pure disbelief.

Reaper appeared behind them and the colour drained from Tracer's face. Two gunshots rang out and the innocent peacekeepers fell to the floor with an inconsequential thump. Not daring to look back at the presumably slaughtered Overwatch team behind her, Lena took a deep breath and looked at Reaper.

"Thank you" she said, quietly.

"You're still weak." Was all he replied as he started to jog away.

Sniper fire echoed in the distance as the pair came to a narrow street. The gunfire grew louder until an APC and a detachment of Soldiers rolled down the street. Tracer pulled Reaper in to a nearby arcade as Overwatch ran straight into the JDF task force, the street rumbling as the two sides battled. Sombra appeared beside them, her brow furrowed.

"The Shimada's will let us in but we have to get rid of the JDF and Overwatch first."

Reaper nodded and spoke into his earpiece. "Widow, help Overwatch take out the JDF and then head north to the power station with Sombra, make it look like it was our target."

"What about me?" Lena asked, "I'm not sure I can kill them, Reaper" she added, pleading with him. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Draw them into the centre of the arcade and I'll kill them" he said looking at her. "You better not get me killed" he sighed as Sombra disappeared and left to help Widowmaker.

"I won't" she said, drawing her pistols. The fighting outside intensified until a group of JDF soldiers took cover in the doorway. Two were shot instantly by an overwatch sniper as the highly-trained infiltration team entered the room. Lena darted about them, her brilliant blue streaks blinded them as Reaper dispatched them instantly. Tracer hid as Reaper engaged four more operatives, blinking to the second floor quickly as a squad of soldiers attempted to flank around the side. Lena reached them as they opened fire on the brawl below and quickly threw herself over the side, pulling the agent with her. She recalled and dealt a kick to the thigh of an operative, who keeled over in pain as his kneecap popped out of place. The last man brought his rifle to bear on her but she blinked right as he shot. A look of disbelief fell upon his face as he realised he shot his friend in the head. Blinking back, Tracer raised her gun to shoot but Reaper's death blossom cracked the supports and she tumbled to the ground. Reaper executed the survivors and dragged her to her feet. The rest of the forces had chased Widowmaker and Sombra so Tracer crept onto the street. It looked like a warzone, Tracer had seen a few in her time and this was as harrowing as the last. A man staggered onto the street, clutching his wound and crying as his noodle shop lay in ruins, his livelihood destroyed in a four-minute battle. The pair moved on quietly and knocked on the large wooden doors of the Shimada clan's HQ and it opened with a creak. They got inside and the door slammed shut as an angry young man approached them.

"What the fuck happened, Reaper?" he said in only slightly broken English. Reaper presumably opened his mouth to reply when Sombra appeared next to them.

"Your Yakuza rivals, that's what" she seethed. "You told us there was peace, Takashi"

"If they made a play, they broke the code" the young man stated, holding his chin. "this will work to both of our benefits, I will inform the boss." He said. "Try not to cause any more trouble" she sighed as he walked off. Tracer's chest heaved as morning broke and the sun clawed its way onto the horizon as Lena slumped against a wall.

"Sombra, I need it." She said, gasping. Sombra smirked and pulled the little box from the pocket strapped to her thigh.

"I win the bet, Reaper" she beamed as Lena sunk the crystal into her veins. The robed figure simply grunted, shook his head and reaffirmed his opinion.

"Weak"

Lena didn't care and she couldn't now as the liquid coursed through her blood. It nulled her, bottling up the emotions that would inevitably haunt her dreams. With nothing to think or care about, Lena became incredibly drowsy and felt herself slipping away. Lena yawned as Reaper scooped her into his arms and placed her into a bed sometime later. He spoke with the man she met earlier as she drifted away.

"There are a few agents you could have picked, D. Va, McCree, but Tracer?" he laughed, "she's as pure as the snow is white, friend"

"Evidently not" Reaper replied holding up what tracer thought was the syringe in her blurry vision.

"Getting the poor girl hooked on street drugs is one thing, but turning her into the newest WMD? That's a pipe dream."

"Our mutual friend seems disagree"

"Our mutual friend is an ideologue, we care about money and power, the inner circle has some grand design that'll bring the whole thing down on top of us…"

The conversation faded and Lena slipped away to a dream.

 _She flew high above the evening sky, detached from her body and observing but not disassociated. This was different, she thought as she watched a firework burst in the sky. It exploded into an array of colours and there was… cheering. No, not cheering, screaming, shouting and spinning!_

 _Inside a VTOL she tumbled around, watching herself look about in fear as the craft fell out of the sky, burying itself in the side of an office block. She watched as she left the craft with Reaper, Sombra and Widowmaker._

" _Nows your chance, run! Run you idiot!" She yelled at herself. It was no use. Reaper placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her forward. She fell backwards as the world warped around them, twisting and morphing._

" _The yakuza are all over us!" a voiced clad in static screamed as the world built up around her. It was a fountain; the water was lit red like blood. Tracer watched herself drink it and bent down to try it too. It became thick in her hands and she screamed as it turned to blood, Lena looked straight at her as she screamed. Then, a bomb exploded and Overwatch rushed them._

 _Lights shone and dazed her as she saw herself heading to a back alley and agents dropped like flies as Widowmaker sniped them from her perch up above. Lena was in the alley now, that dreaded, dark, dingy alley. Reaper was backed against a wall and an agent crept up on him. The strange world slowed as a faded conversation bled into the world._

" _I'm not doing shit for you on this mission Reaper, I'm not here out of choice!" her voiced echoed as the agent raised his gun to shoot and Lena sprinted up the alley._

" _It's simple, I die, your accelerator blows up and you go with me." He replied smugly._

 _A tear rolled down her cheek as she watched Tracer blink up the alley, appearing in front of the poor soul, barely out of his teens and open up a salvo of bullets into his chest and abdomen._

 _Tracer looked at her face. Her teeth were clenched and on display, her lower jaw looked like a predators wild eyed smile as she butchered the man in front of Reaper. Lena watched her face turn to horror as Reaper laughed and executed the remaining agents._

 _Her nightmare ended with a knock at the window._

Lena's eyes opened slowly as the knock came again. She sat up and saw a figure in the window, swinging her legs out of the bed she went over to the window and stepped out onto the balcony.

"What's wrong with the front door, Widow?" Lena scowled.

"the front door isn't my style, _cherie_ " she said, yawning. "besides, you can't deny that view." She said looking out over the city of Hanamura.

"Perhaps," Lena replied, leaning against the railing "if we hadn't blown it all up" she added, looking out at the fires and listening to the faint roar of the rioting crowds in the streets below. The orange glow of the city was pulled into the black expanse of the night sky as Lena sighed and turned to leave.

"You did well today, Lena" said Widowmaker, still leaning on the side of the building. "Come, I want to show you something." She added, hopping off her seat on the railing and striding inside. Lena followed as she popped the cap off of a vent and crawled inside. The pair crawled through the small shaft and even forced themselves upwards until they reached a ledge above the main room. A group of men sat at the table, all knelt in front of Hanzo's sword at the far end of the room.

"As the officiator, I bring the second motion to bear" announced Takashi. There were quiet murmurings and nodded heads. "The motion to go to war with the other clans has been passed" he announced. "Next, in regards to the next leader of the Shimada, a motion has been suggested by associate member Reyes, he seeks permission to file a motion."

The old man at the head of the table spoke. "As leader of the Shimada, I ask to hear the motion." Takashi nodded and indicated to Reaper to speak.

"I propose that Takashi run the clan, in the event of total collapse, as head of the sister branch of the Shimada's and our only loyal ally, he would provide ample skill and oversight in the event of a catastrophic event. He would be the perfect caretaker until Hanzo returns." He added. There was some heated discussion then, and the duo listened intently from above the rafters. The old halls of the Shimada home were abuzz with conversation and Lena yawned as she realised that this would take a while, she slinked away, going back the way she came and went back to her bed.

Widowmaker followed her like a shadow, surprising Lena as she pulled off her jacket. Lena flinched as she realised that Widowmaker was with her, naked, as she pulled off her heels and body suit. Tracer scowled but the woman ignored her, tossing her clothes to the floor and hopping into the bed. She was about to say something when Takashi knocked on the door and entered the room.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" he smirked as he looked at Widowmaker's sleeping form. Tracer scoffed involuntarily at the notion though her eyes lingered on the woman's ass for longer than she wanted to admit.

"Definitely not" Tracer replied, looking back at him. "How can I help?" she asked.

"I wanted to talk to you actually" he said ominously.

"Of course, you do" Lena crossed her arms.

"Come with me" he held out his arm for her to take but Lena simply put her jacket on and walked towards the door.

"Let's get this over with then" she said, holding open the door. The two of them descended into the night market nearby, life had returned to it somewhat as the owner of the noodle shop sold his wares from a mock up stall crafted from rubble and debris.

"People are remarkably resilient, wouldn't you agree?" he said as he brought two bowls of soup to the table in the corner of the café. He was right, Lena thought, his ingenuity was very impressive. "The owner of the café reminds me of you in a way." He said, drinking some of his soup. Tracer looked him in the eye for the first time, intrigued by this strange man. His matte brown eyes cloaked a degree of cunning that few could spot. Each blink and glance was conducted with a swiftness and purposefulness that lead Tracer to believe he was always thinking and always planning. It was something she quite liked, in a strange way, he'd piqued her interest and she couldn't resist biting.

"Well, Mr. Takashi, how are we alike?" she asked, humouring him.

"You both want a simple life. He wants to provide for his family and run his business, it is a simple and noble endeavour." He said stoically. "You want to provide for your family too, but both of you have been beaten and put down, over and over again." He picked up some soup and dribbled it back into the bowl.

"What happened to him?" she found herself asking, leaning forward.

"His daughter died of Japanese Encephalitis" he said grimly.

"ain't that rare?"

"You contract it from pigs," he nodded, "during a war we had with a rival clan, he sent his daughter away to his mother's farm in the mountains, she was a pig farmer."

"That's awful" Lena sighed.

"The next day, here he was, selling his soup."

"It was probably the only thing he could do" Lena said, looking at the pudgy man working away in the corner of the kitchen.

"He lost one of his son's too, in a hit on our leader two years ago," He sipped his coffee. "Again, the next day he sold his soup."

Lena said nothing and looked out at the street, slowly recovering men and women ran up and down it, banding together to clear the rubble for the old man. The neon lights fluttered about, vying for life as power and order returned to the streets.

"and no more than twenty-four hours ago, half his property had an APC rammed through it"

"And still he sells soup…" Lena trailed off as a tear welled in the corner of her eye. "Oh, god this is all my fault" she said, putting her head in her hands and wishing she had more Crystal, much to her shame.

"I imagine that's what he said too, in reality, he couldn't help the fact he was too poor to move away from this city, he couldn't help that the only safe place for his daughter was his mother's peasant pig farm." He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "Just like you couldn't have known the slipstream would fail, or that your girlfriend would be caught up in a conspiracy."

"A conspiracy?" Lena asked, looking back up at him.

"Yes, a conspiracy, my point is, Tracer that despite all of this you both kept going." He said before taking a long drag on his cigarette and tapping the bud into the ash tray.

Tracer sighed loudly, "look, thank you Takashi, but you still haven't told me what you want."

"I want a friend like you."

"Why?"

"In case I need to run from the Shimada's…" he paused. "Or Talon" he said with a wink.

"You know they have me as a prisoner, right?" Lena scoffed. "I run off with you and I blow us both up."

"You won't be their prisoner forever, Tracer." He smiled, placing his hand upon hers.

"And why would I still be with them if I wasn't?" she replied recoiling her hand.

"Because you're like Sombra" he said menacingly "you can't resist a good time".

Lena remained quiet as she pondered the possibility of staying with Talon. The thought made her shudder.

"Why is Talon here, anyway?" she asked as she collected herself.

"For answers." He said bluntly.

"If we're gonna be friends you better start telling me what I want to hear."

He smiled again, looking around briefly before lighting a third cigarette.

"We discovered that the massive omnic between here and Korea is controlled by a central hub buried beneath the American Omnium in Detroit." He looked around again. "When the Omnium in London came online it broadcasted the same signal as the Omnic behemoth here and the same signal as the Omnium in Siberia."

"So, we go to the source of the signal in Detroit, find out what triggered it?" Tracer said, her eyes lighting up like Takashi's.

"No, the signal was identical but the signal from London was encrypted, it was routed through America as a disguise. Even Sombra almost didn't notice it." He said as Lena frowned. "Exactly, this was a cover up, I'm sure of it." He said, leaning back with a sigh.

"So, we need to find the original source of the signal." Tracer stated.

"Yep." He agreed.

Lena finished her soup enthusiastically and burped. "One more thing," she asked. "What happened to Hana?" Takashi shifted awkwardly in his seat and tracer slid along the leather clad bench until she was beside him. "Tell me what you know."

"I don't" he began.

Tracer ejected one of her pistols and held it to his gut. "Don't be shy with me now, _friend_ " she giggled. He placed a hand on the gun and pushed it away as he spoke.

"As I was going to say" he began, as he lit yet another cigarette. "I don't know much, but I know she's alive and been given protection by the Korean military." He said calmly.

Lena smile and returned the pistol to its holster. She picked the cigarette from Takashi's hand and took one long drag, consuming the remaining half in a single go before blowing the smoke back in the man's face.

"You're accruing a lot of debt, you know, none of this was free." He said.

"Luckily, I have the time and the talent to pay it off, right?" she said confidently as she rose to her feet, dropping her cell number on the table and walking out of the café, her mind at rest.

Takashi watched the woman walk out of the café and smiled to himself as he left his bill at the table. "She's going to fit in well around here one day," he thought as he followed her back to the Shimada residence.

Tracer paused as she rounded the corner, the door had been smashed open and shouts could be heard from inside the premises. She sent Takashi a text warning him to stay away and then darted inside. Bodies were scattered about the court yard, all of them Shimada. Tracer's blood turned cold as she came across a body riddled with shuriken. It was Overwatch!

"Tracer!" a familiar twang rang out and Lena's head snapped to the side. It was McCree and Genji. She bolted up the stairs as Genji pursued her.

"Come back, little one, I won't hurt you" he said as she scrambled away from him and ran down the hall. McCree came up the stairs opposite her, blocking her escape.

"Come now, darlin' we're your friends, you can trust us" he smiled.

"It's not you I can't trust!" she yelled at him, looking to her side and blinking onto the balcony of the bell room. She dropped to the floor and ran into the main room where Pharah and Reinhardt stood and turned to look at her.

"Tracer…" the large man said as Mcree and Genji caught up with them.

"I-" she said looking around. Talon were gone, they'd left her. "I, I" she stammered as her eyes scanned for an escape. Pharah hovered in the air, looking at her cautiously.

"Come back with us, Tracer, we will make it right." Reinhardt begged. Lena jumped as McCree rested a hand on her shoulder. She pulled him over, using her hook as leverage. Genji reacted instantly, launching himself at her but she threw herself to the side and scrambled away. Reinhardt blocked her exit and she went toe to toe with Genji, kicking and sliding but remaining close so that she couldn't be fired on by Pharah.

Genji landed a kick to her stomach but Lena threw her bomb back at him. Forced to deflect, he sent it right back at her in mid-air. McCree gasped as the bomb flew back at Tracer but she disappeared using her new abilities and appeared behind Reinhardt's shield. Reinhardt dropped his guard and the bomb detonated next to him, sending him flying. Tracer ran out onto the wooden balcony and McCree, Phara and Genji followed her.

Tracer had to get to the second set of stairs in order to blink across the gap. She was cornered however, and raised her fists. "You don't understand!" she said, assuming a defensive stance.

"Then help us to, Tracer", McCree said, breathing heavily.

"They're in control of me, I can't come with you." She panted.

Pharah cocked her launcher. "Then you are no friend, Amelie was under their control too, and now my mother has no eye"

"It's not like that!" Lena pleaded

"We know, Lena" said Genji

"Are you kidding, she's been turned into a weapon!" Pharah growled

"She is our ally." Genji argued.

"I'm not taking a chance on that, not after last time" she seethed.

Lena saw her chance as McCree turned to speak and blinked past him, turning up the stairs. Just then, Reinhardt reappeared and engaged his boosters. Tracer jumped, blinking twice as Reinhardt powered towards her. Pharah fired her concussion shot beneath him, giving him lift as he sped towards her, catching her mid-air.

Again, Lena disassociated herself, causing Reinhardt to drop her and crash into the bell room on the opposite ledge, knocking him out. Pharah screamed in frustration and jumped over to her. Lena hooked away her launcher and tried to calm her friend.

"Pharah, please. Hear me out or let me go!"

Her friend ignored her and punched her in the gut, and threw her into the open. She jumped into the air. "Justice, rai-" she finished as a shot rang out and her pack malfunctioned, sending her flying into a wall.

"Genji? Where are you?" she coughed. On cue Genji flew across the courtyard, pursued by Hanzo, who smacked him in the face with his bow. Hanzo chased his brother off with a flurry of arrows.

"Go!" he said "to the docks!" he said as a naked Widowmaker swung from a roof to knock down Reinhardt.

Lena nodded and jumped off of the side, followed only by McCree. They slid down the hill and onto a freeway. Dodging left and right as cars flew by. Then, into the streets as the agent kept pace with her to her annoyance. Right down an alley, into a building, onto the rooftops. The man ran endlessly, pursuing his friend relentlessly.

"Stop following me, Jesse!"

She blinked right and recalled, appearing behind him and turning left. Still he caught on as people shouted at them for breaking the merchandise in the shopping district. Tracer turned into the harbour and McCree did too, chasing her right to the boat that Reaper had procured. They slid to a halt.

"Why would you follow me?" Lena said, turning around

"Because we're friends, Lena!" he shouted as waves crashed against the wood. Rain began to pour as the pair stared each other down.

"That ain't how it feels, love" she said, drawing her pistols.

"It's time to bring you in, Lena." He said sternly "I can get you a lenient punishment if you come now."

"Punishment?" Lena asked "what _fucking_ punishment?" she seethed. "You all _left me_. With _them._ "

"You're aiding the enemy, Tracer, but you've been forced, Morrison will understand."

"My freedom is worth more than his understanding"

"so you're free at Talon then?" he growled. "Tracer, Reyes is evil!"

"From my point of view, Overwatch aren't much better."

"well then you are lost!" he shouted back. His eyes aflame, burning at her betrayal. He didn't understand. How could he? She lowered her guns and put up her hands and, as he came close, she disappeared.

He turned but she reappeared in place, sweeping his legs from beneath him. He fell to the floor and Tracer knocked him out cold.

Hopping into the boat she received a text.

 _Wait for us, we're en route._

 _R._

"Fuck that" she said to herself, blasting the engines into life. She would find out the truth on her own, she couldn't care less if Talon killed her or not at this point. Unbeknownst to Tracer, Sombra appeared on the decking behind her, launching her teleporter into the air, and disappearing.

Lena was too resolved to notice. In Detroit, she would discover the truth.


	7. Another Brick in the Wall

The Detroit omnium was abandoned. In the last days of the Omnic Crisis, American special forces infiltrated and disabled all of its systems using an EMP device in a hidden control room. Now, a skeleton crew remained to deactivate the Omnium's fusion generator without causing a meltdown. Tracer pulled up in the car and sighed, resting her head on the wheel. Why hadn't Reaper killed her yet? She thought about that as she turned off the engine and hopped out of the car. Perhaps it was a lie, a bluff she'd carelessly missed. She left her jacket on the back seat and pulled a large black hoodie over her head and placed her new tube scarf over her mouth and nose. Tracer faded out of time and reappeared behind the fence. She crouched behind a digger as a guard strolled past, smoking a cigarette and whistling to himself. The moon was full tonight and Tracer blinked across the yard towards the secret exit she'd burst from years ago, as she escaped the EMP.

Coming to a halt, she looked around as she watched the guards chat and laugh, ignoring their patrols as she pulled the dirt away from a sunken pad and entered in the password. A click was heard and the door release was activated, with a final glance at the unassuming guards, Lena hopped inside.

It was a straight drop directly into the control room from the emergency exit and Lena landed with a loud clunk on the floor. She rose slowly, and deactivated the security systems, she pulled her mask down as an alert pinged onto the screen.

 _1796, Please confirm?_

Lena recognised the number as Gerard's security code and pressed the button cautiously.

 _Please enter Overwatch Identification Number:_

Lena typed her security code in and a message played.

" _Security Code Thirteen Thirty-Seven. Agent Lena Oxton, Designation Tracer, message: play_ "

"Gerard!" Lena spoke softly as her old friend erupted from the holographic projector.

"Hello Lena," he said, his voice resigned and apathetic. "By now you know that I am dead, and I'm sorry for that. There isn't much time and I must be brief, I hid part of my memory within Athena's backup data tapes, which means if she's ever rebooted there's a chance I can take her place as an AI mind. If you've come here to the Detroit omnium, then you've stumbled into a mess I can no longer protect you from. My advice is this: Run, run as far as you can and never come back, this goes deeper than anything you can imagine. The chances are that you're still every bit the girl I knew you were and you want answers. All I can say here is that you need to search for the files on Project Misanthrope, let me tell you right now that you won't like what you find and that…" he paused "and that I'm sorry."

The message ended and Lena's mouth fell open in pure disbelief. She downloaded the message onto her communicator and sat down in the chair, thinking of these revelations, she was so taken aback by them, she never even noticed McCree sneak up on her.

"Why did you come back here, Tracer?" he asked, sighing.

Lena said nothing as McCree unclipped his peacemaker from his belt.

"You couldn't just carry on being the mascot, could you?" He repeated, cocking the revolver.

"You know why, McCree" she said, standing up.

The room seemed frozen in time, caught in the blue glow of the monitors that surrounded them Tracer held her breath. Her nostrils flared and her ears twitched as her face became taught with concentration. Then she smiled, giggled in fact, and McCree paused, raising his gun defensively.

"What's so funny, Tracer?" he spoke dryly.

"It's kinda ironic, aint it?" she said. McCree remained silent but his eyes narrowed. "Oh come on, it's obvious. He's got you under his thumb, the great lone ranger McCree" she mocked, laughing fully now. "He rebelled against the state but conformed to a gang, rebelled from Overwatch and became a pawn of Blackwatch and finally, you were blackmailed into being Morrison's slave."

"Th- that's not true." he stammered, his muscles taut and his breathe rapid.

Tracer turned to face her old friend. "What' he got on you?" She asked slowly, rising from the chair slowly as McCree stepped backwards, his gun raised but his body positioned more defensively than before.

"What could I have to hide?" He said, aiming his gun as Tracer popped her two machine pistols from her gauntlets. "I've always been honest with you."

"Everything" she said, her eyes narrowing, peering deep into the man's soul. "A lie through omission is as bad as any other lie."

He shot. She disappeared. "I did what I had to" he shouted, visibly unnerved.

She reappeared behind him. "What. Did. You. Do?" She reinstated. McCree spun around and fired six shots into what should have been her gut. She was gone.

"You think I would've chosen to do it now? That given the choice right now I'd do exactly the same thing with no remorse?" He said aloud, his voice wavering as Tracer blinked about. She giggled, laughing at how pathetic he was becoming.

"I think you regret whatever you did, but you would betray me again in a heartbeat." She chirped into his ear.

"Never! Tracer, you're my friend, my ally!" He tried to reason with her.

"So" she blinked, he fired. "Why" he fired again "you trying" another shot "to kill me!" She said, launching a flying kick into his side. Tracer stood over him, giggling like a school girl. McCree groaned beneath her shoe as she placed it upon the nape of his neck, grinding it into him, making him gasp for air.

Then she was gone. McCree stood up cautiously and raised his gun once more. "What have they done to you Tracer?" He reloaded the gun, spinning it around as

"What do you mean, Jesse?" Came the sardonic reply. If Lena had a form she would have smiled as her voice seemed to permeate through the very air her old friend breathed.

"Your new powers, they're..." he tensed up as Tracer reformed beneath a table, "impressive" he added, stepping slowly towards the desk.

"Talon gave them to me" Tracer said bluntly from beneath the old steel workspace.

"So you did give into them" he sighed. Tracer snapped. The desk flew upwards as she jumped at him. She tackled him to the ground, knocking his gun from his hand and laid into the cowboy, striking his face over and over again in a fit of rage she scarcely thought possible.

She disappeared. "I didn't have much of a choice, did I?" She laughed. "I don't know why I thought you'd come back for me."

"We all tried, Morrison wouldn't let us" he panted, looking around the room frantically. "He said you were a liability and that he had contacts in the UN who believed that anyone caught helping you would be arrested or killed under the Petras Act." He reloaded his gun. "You did shoot up half of shanghai in your escape, remember?" He regained his composure a little.

"Morrison imprisoned me." She spat. She kicked his leg, making him trip.

"For your own safety, Lena!" McCree said, scrambling to his feet. "Surely you can see why we would have cause to be worried."

"All I can see is the irony of protecting me, only to lead me straight into the arms of our enemy."

McCree went quiet for a moment, his point taken. He looked around for the light switch, hoping it would help him find Tracer.

"The lights won't help you." She whispered into his ear. "I'm on a whole other level now" Tracer gloated, appearing next to him. She punched him hard in the ribs and the man stumbled back into a wall of data tapes. "I will find out the truth McCree, you can bet your Yankee arse I will find out" she threatened, her arm jammed under his throat and gun positioned over the wrist of his shooting hand.

"I don't doubt that Tracer, but for every moment you hunt for it I will try to stop you." He lowered his head. He moved quickly, pushing her back with all his strength. Lena flew backwards and landed on her ass. Seeing his opportunity, McCree pressed his attack, shooting a flurry of shots in her direction. Tracer blinked, ejecting her pistols and firing back at him as he rolled to cover. McCree sprung up from behind cover and shot Tracer three times in the thigh.

Tracer screamed out in pain but recalled. McCree, knowing where she'd been, threw his flashbang at her and shot her twice. She grunted as she hit the floor, clutching her hip as she struggled to breathe. The shock knocked any sense of stability out of her as she gritted her teeth, pulling herself towards him.

McCree paced about, a lone bullet in the chamber. "I- I-" he said, his breathing rapid.

"You what?" she grimaced, crawling towards him.

"I can't…" he said, dropping his gun as he fell into a chair.

"Carry out his orders McCree?" Lena smirked, having guessed already that her friend had been sent to kill her. "go on," she mocked " _show me how much you care about me_ "

Jesse wheeled the chair to the communications panel and punched in some numbers and a hologram of Morrison appeared.

"McCree, tell me the good news" Morrison said nonchalantly.

"I'm not sure I can, sir"

"Remember what's at stake here McCree, you want to see her again, you do as I say." The message ended abruptly and Lena saw on the screen an image of a young girl. She had flame red hair and bright blue eyes. A scar ran over the left eye of the girl's face, she couldn't have been older than twelve.

McCree turned to her, his eye's a dulled brown, he pulled a knife from his belt and approached her. Tracer scrambled away, heading for McCree's discarded gun.

"oh, no you don't" McCree said, kicking it away. He lowered himself onto her, holding her in place as he looked over the knife.

"Do it, then!" Tracer screamed at him. "Don't pretend like this is a hard choice for you!" Tracer hoped that deep down, McCree wouldn't go through with it. Her heart sank as McCree plunged the knife into her shoulder blade, only missing her heart because she recalled at the last moment. Enraged, she blinked three times, slamming McCree into the wall. Lena fired her pistol into Jesse's wrist and he rolled over, screaming in agony.

Tracer fired again, severing the man's Achilles tendons with a volley of bullets. She pulled herself to her feet and picked up his revolver.

"Impressive, Tracer!" came a voice from behind. It was Sombra.

"How did you get here" Tracer panted, slowly raising the magnum at the neon coloured woman.

"It's my job to keep an eye on you, I take orders from Reaper very seriously" she said, circling round to inspect McCree's wounds. She chuckled at the mess "Reaper will be proud of that" she said hopping backwards as he spat at her.

"What do you want, Sombra?"

"To offer you a lifeline" she aimed her gun at McCree. "Reaper got caught after you abandoned us. Now, he will escape prison and he will kill you." She affirmed. "Join us, let's find out the truth."

Tracer held McCree's gun in her hand. It was heavy. Sombra pulled McCree to his knees and aimed at his head. Do it or I'll kill him. Smiling, she removed her hood. Her face ached and throbbed from the near three-day trek across half the world. She looked down at McCree who seemed to look down on her, even from his knees.

"You have one last chance, Jesse" Lena said, raising his gun to his face. "Who is Morrison using to blackmail you with?"

"My daughter." He sighed. Lena raised an eyebrow and looked at Sombra who shrugged.

"What did you do for Morrison?" she said.

"I will never tell you."

"Why?" Tracer asked, cocking the gun, the final bullet loaded into the chamber with a dramatic thunk.

"Because I can't deal with the consequences." He replied solemnly.

"You're a coward."

"Yes. I guess I am." He said, throwing a flashbang at Sombra and rolling into Tracer, groaning in pain as he clattered to the floor, Tracer pinned beneath him. "It's you or me Lena and I have something to live for." He said, his hands around her throat. Lena felt the life draining from her body as spasms tore through her lungs. She held the magnum to McCree's chin, seeing the resolve in his eyes. He looked at her in pity, as her arm shook, struggling to hold up the weapon. Jesse's apathy set a flame of passion within Tracer, a passion for the truth, a desire to live. McCree had made his choice, it was time she made hers.

She pulled the trigger and gasped. Sucking in air felt painful but the relief was blissful as she panted, laying on the ground, covered in McCree's blood.

End of part two.


	8. Bad Company

Lena lay on the floor; the carcass of her old friend had fallen backward and landed with a loud clunk onto the metal plated floor tiles. Her chest rose and fell for what felt like a longer time than half a minute as Sombra stood, mouth wide open in shock.

"Lena…" she said, her voice trailing off into the distant corners of the small room.

Lena held up two fingers to the woman and sat up. Her thigh ached, the multiple bullet holes had clotted now but one remained buried within her leg and she could feel the debris moving around the wound as she rose to her feet. Lena pulled the black hoodie off to reveal a third wound near her hip, the white crop top she'd worn underneath was grimy and its lower hems were stained a dark red.

"What now?" she asked Sombra as she wiped sweat and blood from her brow.

Sombra said nothing as she gawked at McCree's corpse. Tracer looked back at him too, he looked surprised and she saw it in Sombra's face too as she looked back at her, they'd both assumed such expressions as Tracer made the decision to live.

"Sombra." Lena asked again, which made Sombra jump, her trance broken.

"Oh sorry, well we need to get you patched up, then we go get Widowmaker" she spoke softly as Tracer finished downloading the rest of Gerard's message and turned to leave. "Don't you want to bury him?" Sombra said as Tracer put her foot on the first rung on the access ladder.

Tracer paused and looked back, Jesse had been her friend, but he tried to kill her. She knew she had no choice, she needed answers more than he needed to bury whatever it was that had forced him to kill her. The large hole at the back of his head leaked blood and it gave her a twisted satisfaction that made her want to hurl. Slowly, she stepped off of the ladder and walked towards the body. She knelt beside it and picked up his revolver, hat and poncho.

"Let's go" she said, tucking the large revolver into the rear of her jeans.

The two of them exited the bunker, slipping past the guards, who had been knocked unconscious by Sombra as she made her infiltration. Sombra clicked open the car door and let Lena fall inside of it as she walked around towards the driver's seat. The leaves crunched beneath her feet as Lena watched her new ally closely. She watched again as Sombra ignited the engine and pulled away, leaving McCree's corpse far behind them.

"Where are the other two?" Lena asked, hating the silence.

"Reaper got caught and is currently en route to the pentagon" she sighed

"And Widowmaker is with them"

Sombra scoffed "No, Amelie only gets caught on purpose," her voiced dripped with admiration "or by you" she added, looking towards Lena with a smile before looking back at the road. Lena, bored out of her skin, rummaged around the glove box of the car. "She always came back ranting about you" she giggled "annoying Widowmaker is something we have I common, I think" she said, smiling as Lena pulled a packet of sweets from the compartment and offered some to her.

Sombra politely declined and Lena shrugged, shovelling a fistful of the sweets into her mouth. "I'm glad you're a fan of my work, love" her mouth was so full of sweets that she spoke with a lisp. "I hafthen't ethen for like two dayth!" she splurted.

"Yeah, sorry about that" Sombra replied honestly. "The boss men are terrified of what you can do now, they think it's best to keep your wings clipped a little" she added.

Tracer dove back into the glove box "Well" she said, still chewing, "It's not like I can ever go back now" she sighed and pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out, expertly lighting it single handed as she rolled down the window.

"I didn't take you for a smoker, Tracer" Sombra said.

"thirty-two of the world's best scientists, including Winston, spent almost as many years trying to figure out why my body doesn't decay" she sighed

"Really? That's fucked up" Sombra asked, her brow raised.

Lena nodded and took a long drag on her cigarette. "Fucked doesn't come close, love"

Sombra and Tracer sat in silence for a while, Tracer noticed Sombra watch her every time she drained another cigarette. She lowered the seat and swung her legs onto the dashboard, looking at the stars through the sunroof as they bolted down the highway.

Lena dreamt of McCree, the night she first met him.

" _Hey there darlin', bit young for the bottle aren't ya" he slurred, approaching her, coming close enough that she could feel his breathe on her lips._

" _I'm as old as you are, cowboy" she replied playfully as he took her by the hand. They danced together, surrounded by friends and family, all smiles and all relaxed. Except for Gabriel of course. She swung her hips and followed his eyes as they danced about the room, drowning in each other's eyes._

Lena woke up abruptly as the car spun to a halt, crashing into a man thrown from a nearby car. Lena rubbed her eyes and watched as Widowmaker jumped onto the roof. "What's going on?" Lena asked quickly, grabbing the wheel as Sombra climbed out the window.

"It's our target, we have to kill him before we get reaper!" she shouted, nodding her head in the direction of the mobile prison housing Reaper ducked as a piece of car flew overhead. "cover me" she said, leaping to the car adjacent to them. Tracer swore as she swerved to avoid a car. A helicopter arrived and opened fire on Sombra who had to jump to another car in the convoy.

Widowmaker aimed her rifle, firing a single shot and hitting the gunner square in the jaw, grappling into the cockpit and commandeering the chopper. Tracer looked in the rear-view mirror and spotted a VTOL approaching, its loading bay open.

When it reached the prison van, Lena disappeared before reappearing inside the chopper and grabbing the gun. She fired on the Overwatch agents that had begun to pour out of it, hitting two before Pharah appeared. The flight suited woman concussed her out of the vehicle but Tracer blinked to safety on top of the prison vehicle. Sombra was about to kill her but stumbled backwards, pulling a sleep dart from her chest. As she slumped over on the top of the van, Tracer acted quickly, pulling McCree's revolver from her jeans and shot three operatives dead. Then in one swift motion she launched Sombra's teleporter on to Widowmakers Blackhawk, taking Sombra to safety.

Lena ducked a sniper round, threw herself from the chopper and released her pulse bomb, which detonated just behind Pharah, destroying her jet pack and a car. Tracer giggled, thoroughly engrossed in the moment, and dropped inside the large prison vehicle, feigning injury.

"Get up top, lads, it's Widowmaker!" Tracer said. They nodded and scrambled topside as Lena deactivated the containment field that kept reaper in place.

"Impressive." Reaper said as he was released. A young man came through to see what all the commotion was about and opened his mouth to alert the driver as he saw Tracer look up at Reaper, his hand planted tenderly on her shoulder. Tracer spun on the balls of her feet and fired a single bullet between his eyes and Reaper laughed as his corpse fell to the floor. "Very good" he added, pulling two shotguns from nowhere and slinking up the ladder. Tracer followed suit and watched as Reaper executed the two guards sent up earlier. Reaped disappeared and reappeared on the gun of the Blackhawk, and shot at the VTOL's engine, making Ana miss Tracer.

Tracer hopped from car to car, looking for the Limo holding the VIP, she found it quickly and dropped a pulse bomb inside, and blinked into the helicopter as the fireball exploded across the sky.

The chopper veered off as the VTOL landed, Tracers heart sunk as Ana ran out towards her daughter and the remaining operatives searched the wreckage of the car. Had she killed another of her friends?

...

The thought plagued her like a flea on a rat and she remained silent as the team discussed what to do next. She was curled up in a ball, her back to the loading bay doors, as they flew east over the fungal green water of the Atlantic Ocean. From the window, the murky waters of the north Atlantic gave way to the Merseyside docklands and the rolling hills of the Cotswolds. All of these were places that she'd been hiking with her grandfather and her mind turned to the naïve child she was then as the VTOL turned south.

"Where we going?" Lena asked Widowmaker, who sat beside her.

The woman laughed and pulled a syringe from a rucksack. "back to the beginning _Cherie_ "

"Who's beginning?" Lena replied, cautiously eyeing the needle. Tracer felt a desire build within her, a need to numb the pain.

An evil grin spread across her face, "yours".

Tracer knew what that meant. She gasped sharply and tore the needle from her ally's grip, before plunging it deep into her veins. As the serum took hold she rationalised the situation: She was headed back to the slipstream testing facility in Antarctica.

Hi! Thanks for checking back in on the story, I got side tracked by Horizon and a bunch of other stuff but don't worry, we'll be back to the roughly weekly schedule I have worked out thus far because I'll be home for Easter break. I know this one is short, just bear with me!


	9. Welcome Home, Son

Chapter 9: Welcome Home, Son.

Widowmaker smirked as Tracer rose, her mind cleared of emotion. "Why are we going there?" she asked, ignoring the assassin with a cool indignance that would have infuriated anyone else.

Reaper turned to face her and walked down from the bridge towards her, motioning the holographic display to activate. "You uncovered a lead in Detroit" he began, his voice emanating across the room, bouncing from the walls like a happy Tracer.

"Project Misanthrope" said Sombra, interjecting as she brought the file upon the display. Thick black lines peppered the document, only three words remained legible: 'Target, Oxton, and successful'.

Reaper grunted and continued. "It was a _very_ secret operation" he said. "I didn't even have the clearance for it" he spat that last part out, clearly hurt by Morrison's deception.

Lena's thoughts ran rampant. "That doesn't explain why we have to go back to Antarctica, what does slipstream have to do with Misanthrope?" Lena asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"All your files were localised to the Antarctic base to prevent me from accessing them" Reaper replied.

"What were you trying to pull, Reyes?" Lena demanded, her fists clenched.

"I wanted your skillset for a start" he said bluntly, unfazed by Lena's frustration. "Gerard also suspected some foul play, it was all a little too secretive" he said truthfully.

"What the bloody hell do you mean by foul play?"

"He thinks you were being held hostage Chiquita" Sombra blurted before ducking as Reaper turned quickly, shooting her a terrifying glare.

"But why?" Lena sighed.

"That's what we're going to find out" Sombra said, swiping at a data pad. "You and Widowmaker will investigate the Slipstream files and records, see if you can recover any data. Flight charts, projections and blueprints"

Tracer scowled but understood the logic behind the decision, Sombra and Reaper still didn't trust her. If they searched for the information themselves, they could use what they found to control her. So, she nodded and took a seat, and sat in silence for the rest of the night until morning broke over the horizon.

The VTOL dropped out of the Arctic sky that morning, landing daintily upon the landing pad outside the Slipstream hanger and control centre. Tracer and Widowmaker hopped out and watched the VTOL fly to towards the main compound across the valley.

"Glad to be back, _Cherie?_ " Widowmaker said, placing a hand on her shoulder. In the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic, Amelie's hand felt warm and inviting.

"I wouldn't say glad, but it definitely brings back some memories, love" Lena sighed. She remembered reaching the impact site, the shattered shards of the Slipstream were strewn about the snowy dunes like dust to a shelf. Most of all, she remembered the piercing howl of the wind as it wracked the grief stricken faces of the command team. It was as if the collective grief of them all was reflected in its inhuman shriek which barrelled across the arctic tundra in a cruel imitation of Tracers flight.

Tracer turned to Widowmaker. "I could see them you know?" The woman turned and raised an eyebrow. "I drifted right out the sky and I could see what they did after, it took me months to learn how to move, flitting about time and such"

"Tell me inside _Cherie,_ we have work to do" the assassin said almost softly. Lena nodded and headed inside and switched on the backup power generators. The pair quickly came to a small room.

"This was Jimmy Redford's room" Lena said, opening the door.

"Who?" Widowmaker replied.

"He was base Captain, he always recorded his days on audio tape so he might be able to tell us something" Lena said, pulling up two chairs to the computer screen. She clicked through the menus until a voice began talking aloud:

" _As far as new year's go, this is probably on the uh… shit side. I'm a high ranking military officer, a Captain, overseeing Overwatch's little pet projects and I'm stuck out here in the middle of the British Antarctic territories waiting for one of the RAF's finest. The eggheads are good enough company; Sikes is a laugh and the most normal lad on the team but the others? Man, there's this one guy, Dan, his head is so far up his arse he can tell you how his own prostate tastes."_

"I thought all you Englishmen were like that" Amelie said dryly.

Tracer laughed aloud and lightly elbowed the assassin, "And I thought the French had no sense of humour"

" _non_ , that's justme, _cherie_ " replied the assassin. Tracer noted the out of character self-depreciation but thought little of it as she refocused on the recording with a giggle.

" _He is a genius though, rebuilt this little omnic companion for us from an old Bastion unit, luckily he's not as good at robotics as he is particle physics, the damn thing can barely walk."_

Tracer skipped ahead a little.

" _Yep. Somehow this thing reached the human test phase and now they're shipping Lena-bloody-Oxton in to fly it! The poster girl for the entire British Army will come here to live, train and test the world's first Harrier-time-jump-jet. Better yet, she'll be bunking with myself and the scientists which means I can finally meet a normal human being."_

Widowmaker chuckled. "what?" Lena asked.

"I expect he was disappointed that you're as close to normal as my heart is to flatlining" she giggled, and Lena did too. They resumed the recording.

" _Here's what I know. Lena is barely an adult, at 21 she's the youngest pilot to wear a Victoria cross having fought in every major combat zone around the world with a record 36 confirmed aircraft kills. Beyond that, there is nothing, reports of what the girl is actually like are mixed. Some say she's a genius, that she engineers her own planes and upgrades. Other reports suggest that this success is entirely false, that her success must be down to luck because she is notoriously stupid. Well whatever the case, I'll have something to look at, that girl is gorgeous."_

Amelie burst out laughing as Lena stood up in shock, giggling a little and holding her hands to her mouth. "Do you think he ever suspected you were gay" she laughed.

Tracer remained stunned as Widowmaker stood up and came close, looming over Tracer as she backed into the wall. Amelie placed her hand on Lena's hip and spoke softly into her ear. "I've found you irresistible Lena, our fights filled me with a passion no one else ever has before." She said, biting her lip as Tracer stood helpless before her, her mouth slightly ajar, begging for a kiss.

Widowmaker toyed with her prey, releasing Lena and heading towards the door quickly, "Let's go, Lena" she said, heading towards the control tower.

The silence was awkward and long and it lasted until they'd searched half the control room at the penultimate level of the tower. Suddenly Reapers voice sounded from her wrist.

"We've found the Misanthrope files and we're starting the download, update me Widowmaker." He barked.

"It's a goldmine here, however something is blocking the Slipstream data from being downloaded"

"Sombra thinks that it could be due to some dodgy hardware fault… and to try the transmitter on the top floor"

"Got it." Amelie said, placing her rifle down and scanning the computer. Tracer jumped at the chance to leave and made her way to the roof to examine the transmitter. It took her a while but she realised there was a fault with the containment generator. It was the failsafe for the slipstream in case the test happened and Tracer was lost, it would bounce her back into the right time and place. It had been manually disabled by someone based on the logs. What troubled Tracer was the person logged as the user at the time: McCree J.

Lena felt her blood boiling and she ripped the hand cannon from her holster and turned it over in her hands. She was about to throw it away when Amelie's voice tore her away from the gun. "McCree, Jesse" she said, placing a hand on her shoulder again as she read the name on the screen. " _C'est la vie, cherie_ " she said softly.

Tracer stood up, and pulled the woman back down the stairs. She restarted the download and locked lips with Amelie, who after a brief moment of surprise, returned the explosive kiss in full. Amelie's hands found their way inside Lena's coat and Lena gasped into Widowmakers mouth as the pair ground themselves against each other for what felt like an eternity to them.

Eventually, Tracer pulled back from Widowmaker, who wiped saliva from her lower lip and zipped up her body suit. Amelie gave her a file she'd found in a cabinet and told her to read it when the mission was done. The situation was too much for Tracer and she looked around for something to occupy herself with. She soon found it in a beeping node on the console.

"That shouldn't be beeping" Tracer said in utter disbelief.

"Why not?"

"Because it's only meant to flash when it can detect the Slipstream" she exclaimed.

At that moment, a VTOL flew overhead, emblazoned with the Overwatch insignia. "Reaper, Sombra, you have incoming!" Amelie said instantly. A lone figure, who Tracer recognised as Ana dropped onto the landing pad outside.

"We know, deal with the old crow, Widowmaker" Sombra said calmly, "Tracer come to our location, we must protect this data!"

Lena looked at Amelie nervously but nodded and bolted for the roof, which she jumped from expertly and landed flawlessly into the snow. Shots rang out from the control tower but Lena didn't look back. She bolted across the runway towards the main base, watching as Pharah, Mercy and Winston breached the walls of the control centre.

She arrived at the gaping hole in the wall, the edges of which cackled and simmered like a furnace. Tracer drew her pistols and headed inside, her heart beating like a drum as she approached the standoff.

"Where's McCree, Reaper?" Winston growled.

The sinister form of reaper laughed before replying "I killed him"

A fight ensued. Tracer was about to join the fray when a console in an adjacent room caught her eye. She approached it cautiously and opened the file.

 _Mission Report: Misanthrope_

 _Active agent(s): Morrison, J. , McCree, J. and Amari, A._

 _Tertiary Agent(s): Ziegler, A._

 _Targets: Oxton Family._

 _Brief: The Oxton's are using slipstream to sabotage the progenitor project, they must be eliminated._

 _Outcome: Partial Success, the slipstream was lost and Lena was critically crippled by the event. Ana reports that she and McCree successfully dispatched James and Niamh Oxton. Although McCree was successful in his endeavour and his asset will remain in Ana's care. He will not be happy but he has little choice._

Lena's stomach churned. Her blood coursed with rage as she ripped the final download from its socket and left the room, drawing her guns.

Talon's situation was dire, Sombra was unconscious and Reaper was pinned against the wall by Winston. Pharah aimed her rockets straight at Lena, who ran into the room, skidding to a halt in front of her old friends. She aimed both pistols at Angela who took one look at the data chip on Lena's belt before damage boosting Pharah and drawing her own pistol.

"Tracer listen-"

Tracer said nothing, instead launching a flurry of attacks at the pair, keeping the fight close so that Pharah could not use her rockets. Tracer noted Winston from the corner of her eye as he held Reaper in disbelief. Lena ducked a blow from Angela's staff that smashed a computer screen behind them.

Pharah used a concussive blast, disrupting the fight and fired several rockets at Tracer. She recalled and three new holes peppered the outer walls of the control room, allowing the scorching light to pour into the dingy control centre.

Lena realised she'd bitten off more than she could chew, Mercy's abilities gave the three of them far better sustain than she could overcome on her own. Luckily, Reaper re-joined the fight, taking advantage of Winston's lapse in concentration. He laughed as he pressed his attack on Mercy firing blast after blast from his shotguns at him. Tracer threw herself at Pharah, trying to land a punch on the expert security chief but Winston dragged her back at the last second.

Pharah tried to kill Tracer as Sombra woke slowly, watching in awe as Winston took a rocket for Tracer, who blinked from his grip. Sombra drained her power supply in a localised hack, preventing their enemies from using their abilities and forcing them on the defensive. Tracer lashed out at Mercy, kicking away her staff. She tried knocking the healer out but she defended herself well, depriving Lena of her machine pistols quickly. They stared each other down, their chests heaving, tiring from the long fight.

"Tracer, please listen" she begged. "It wasn't"

"Wasn't what?" Tracer replied as Winston burst into a fit of rage and chased Reaper out of the room.

"It wasn't personal?" she seethed "You _killed_ my parents, you tried to kill _me._ " Sombra teleported herself and Pharah outside, leaving the pair alone.

"It was for the greater good, we had to protect progenitor!"

"and that was worth my life? A friend's life?" Tracer scowled and drew McCree's revolver.

"It was you?!" Angela gasped.

"It was me or him" Lena said.

"Not if you had stayed!" Angela cried.

Tracer shot twice, burying a round in each kneecap as the good doctor collapsed to the floor.

"Guys!" an alerted Widowmaker shouted over the radio.

Tracer put a finger to her ear. "What?" she exclaimed angrily.

"It's slipstream!" Widowmaker exclaimed.

Tracer blinked towards what was left of the glass windows overlooking the runway. Reaper ran through the door and jumped from the window. Tracer followed as the wreckage of the slipstream floated out of the sky, sprinkling debris upon the ground. They jumped out of the way as Winston followed and began electrocuting Tracer.

"Winston!" Pharah shouted, "Angela!" The gorilla stopped and turned, pausing for a second. "Go!" she screamed, flying high into the air. Winston retreated as the trio descended on Pharah who remained out of their effective range by staying high in the sky.

Angela flew from the sky, thrown by Winston who followed her. Sombra disappeared and Pharah engaged Reaper, who had to teleport around the runway to survive. Winston approached from behind and Tracer shouted out to him but it was too late.

The carcass of the slipstream ploughed into the ground, tearing up snow, ice and tarmac in a colossal storm of destruction. As the snow fell to the ground and the mist cleared there was a pained roar. Winstons leg was crushed beneath the mighty fixture and his bloodied arm clutched his cannon as Reaper approached him. The Overwatch VTOL returned overhead and extracted Mercy. Tracer watched as Morrison pulled Pharah back, pointing to their own VTOL in the sky, piloted by Sombra and Widowmaker who held Ana hostage in the loading bay. She followed Reaper who strode past her towards Winston.

"Tracer! Please!" Winston cried out in pain.

Tracer closed her eyes and turned away. Winston growled in frustration and electrocuted Reaper as he came close. Reyes seemed unfazed, Lena noticed, looking back at the scene. Reaper fired once into the Gorilla's hand and again into his face.

Lena felt weak. Reaper walked past her, his shotguns clattering to the floor and she followed obediently. Her feet felt heavy as she stepped onto the VTOL but her bloodied hand clutched McCree's revolver.

"Do we need her, Reyes?" she asked Reaper, referring to Ana, who looked up at her in shock.

"No."

"Then take us in close to them."

The VTOL moved close to the other and Morrison glared at her, everyone knew he loved Ana. Pharah jumped into the air to collect her, but Tracer's brow furrowed. She placed the revolver to the back of Ana's head and pulled the trigger.

The VTOL pulled away as Pharah screamed. Ana fell limply to the floor, her bones snapping on the ground from the long drop. Morrison opened fire as their VTOL sank to the ground to recover their dead. Tracer stumbled backwards. She hit the wall and sank to a sitting position. Still clutching the weapon, she watched Amelie howling with laughter at the loading bay door.

Lena didn't care, for she found herself smiling too.


	10. Bonfire Heart

10 - Bonfire Heart.

"So, Gerard knew about misanthrope?" Hans noted as he skimmed through the mission report.

Tracer sat munching on an apple in her gym clothes, "yeah, he must've gained access to it at some point" she took another bite. "Morrithon muth've figured he'd be on board with the whole killing my parent's thing." She looked about the room. It was her favourite part of the base mainly because of her friend Hans but also for the odd sense of serenity she gleamed from it. While the rest of the base buzzed, and droned, filled with the noises of urgency and operation prep, this room remained messy and in a state of chaos but it was comforting. The rest of the base reminded her too much of Overwatch.

"Jesus Lena, that's rough, I can't imagine how you must feel" he said, finally looking up at her.

"I've had enough time to rationalise it all now, hopefully the higher ups will put me back in the major operations soon." She replied, curling her toes and cracking them.

"So Mcree sabotaged the anchor?"

"Yeah, apparently he was forced to" Tracer said, trying to give her old friend the benefit of the doubt, he'd earned that much. "Hans?" she asked, changing the topic.

"Ya?" he replied, not looking up from his tinkering.

"Why did they do this to me? I mean I know you were kicked out of Overwatch but you know Angela, right? She couldn't do this, she always cared so much, for everyone… and for me"

Hans stopped and turned slowly, brushing his thick blonde hair out of his eyes. "It is… possible that she believes it was the right thing to do." He looked around for a moment. "Ah!" he said jogging to a bench on the other side of the room and burying his head inside a cupboard and rummaging around inside it. "What if progenitor is a solution to the omnic problem?" he added.

Lena pondered this for a moment. "Why try and send my parents a message then? Why kill them? What did my parents even want me to do?" she exclaimed in frustration.

Hans banged his head as he exited the cupboard. "Maybe it was unethical?" he said, rubbing the crown of his head and returning to his workstation.

"Must be one hell of a solution" Tracer said, curling her toes again and swinging her legs nonchalantly.

"It would have to be, for Angela, Ana and Morrison to take such drastic steps to reacquire it."

"Any luck finding it?" Tracer asked with a cheeky smile. As chief science officer, Hans had a seat on all the big meetings.

"We're working on it Tracer, you'll be back in the field to help soon so don't worry."

Tracer didn't reply, her past missions with Talon had been horrific. Three of her friend's dead, the rest of them turned against her, it was all too much.

"I've been meaning to thank you actually, bringing back the slipstream was one hell of a feat, it'll give us the leg up over them for sure." He grinned, bringing up the holographic projection of half the slipstream fighter. "You wouldn't happen to know where the other half is?" he asked jokingly.

Tracer was silent, near the bottom she could make out a tuft of hair, torn from Winston's leg as it had been lifted it off of his corpse.

"Tracer?"

"Oh, sorry!" she smiled "I wasn't actually on the recovery mission, needed medical attention and stuff. You'll have to thank the others yourself, Hans" Lena said with a half-smile. "and as for the rest of it, my best guess is that it's 30 seconds in the future" Lena hopped off the table and picked up her socks and running shoes. "It's all very timey wimey, love" she giggled.

Tracer hobbled out of the room, the balls of her feet ached from her work out as she strode, bare foot across the gantry overlooking the indoor garden. She stopped for a breather, observing the greenery in front of her as she thought about her new life. It had been a few months since she'd turned on Overwatch and she had kept Winston in her thoughts every moment since. She leaned upon the railing and watched Widowmaker enter the garden, curiously, she looked about cautiously and slipped between two bushes with a book in hand. Lena was reminded of their kiss on their last mission, since then, Amelie had been different with her. Amelie's switch from ice queen to flirtatious friend had caused Tracer many sleepless nights.

She was about to follow when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hans, leave me alone" she sighed, turning to face not Hans, but the man who ran Talon and who spoke to her before Emily was killed.

"It's pronounced, 'Tony', Lena" he said in a warm and familiar accent. It was soft and sophisticated, like her grandfathers, from Kent she assumed as she looked him over. He wore another suit, this one brown with a black shirt and tie. She saw the Rolex on his wrist as he removed it from her shoulder and Lena smiled, nodding slowly.

"Nice to finally put a name to a face" she said coldly.

"Discretion is our business Lena, it would not have been proper to tell you back then" he noted, placing a hand on the small of her back and leading her towards the elevator.

"I understand" Lena said quietly, acutely aware of her soaked gym wear as Tony wiped his hand on his sleeve before pressing the button.

The elevator rose above the base and headed for the office above the control tower. "I'm know you do, you've been very useful to us since you joined." He noted as he looked out over the base.

"Gee, thanks" Tracer said sarcastically.

"You'd prefer to have never discovered the truth?" Tony shot back, a sharp sting conveyed through his words.

Tracer thought for a moment and sighed "okay, okay" she said, reluctantly admitting the truth.

"Good." He replied coldly. Tracer spent the rest of the ride wondering if she'd offended him until the doors pulled apart and the pair stepped through. "You have a good run?" he asked as he poured two drinks.

Lena blinked, "oh my work out? Yeah, it was fine" she said, feeling the air of awkwardness between them. She looked away towards the kitchen, where the photo of her and this man was pinned to the fridge.

"Look," he said getting to the point, "we want to clear you again for active duty" he smiled hoping that she'd be pleased. Lena was, she loosened up and breathed a sigh of relief, nodding her approval and whispering her thanks to the man. "Naturally we'll need to get you up to speed but don't worry, that's what you're here for." Again, Lena simply nodded in affirmation, cautious to give away too much to the mysterious stranger. "The arctic base raid was a total success, thanks to you." He continued. "We discovered our first new lead in progenitor for years, we don't know much about it but it's the reason why your parents were killed, Tracer."

"Hans said you recovered the rest of the slipstream?" Tracer interjected, "what happened?"

Tony paused for a moment of deliberation before sipping on his drink. "We've been conducting various operations in regards to your condition, we want to try and help you" he said slowly.

"You already took off the inhibitor thingy, don't see what more you can do, unless you want to remove my control chip, too." Lena replied, crossing her legs on the seat as she slowly grew more comfortable.

"Well I'm personally convinced of your loyalty to us, It's Reyes you'll want to talk to about that."

"He said I was weak, I'm not sure he likes me."

"Well" he paused, "are you?

Lena looked at him angrily, about to mouth off at him for being an arse when she paused and smiled, she laughed and let out a small sigh. "Maybe I am, love" Lena said, with a cheeky half-cocked smile baked in such honesty that Tony couldn't help but reciprocate it.

"In any event, we secured the wreckage of the slipstream, and Hans has been working on improving the design of the accelerator."

"God, I hope not, all he wears is a lab coat" Lena joked but she was serious, she'd never seen him in anything else. "But thank you Tony, I appreciate it."

"And we appreciate you, Lena, you've helped our cause more than you will ever know."

Lena spoke solemnly and honestly, "I just did my job". She shuddered when reminded of the evil she had facilitated.

Tony smiled, "you always do" he said warmly.

"No, Tony, I used to do more" Tracer snapped. "I used to help people, the little guy you know?" she stood up. "I don't think I can fight out of revenge for much longer, it's killing me."

Tony paused and looked her over before leaning back in his large brown leather chair. "Talon was initially set up to keep Overwatch in check. We used to be part of blackwatch."

Lena's mouth dropped open "You mean?"

"We're trying to stop the world from ending, by any means necessary." He said rising from the chair as Lena stepped forward, placing both hands over the desk. "The truth is that Progenitor, whatever it is, has been a pet project of Overwatch for a long time, we know next to nothing about it."

"And that terrifies you?"

"You mean it doesn't terrify you?" he replied, stretching as he looked out of the window. "Tracer, whatever it is Morrison killed your parents to protect it."

Tracer swallowed, it was just another hard truth. "Why would you have Widowmaker kill Mondatta then? How does that have anything to do with progenitor?" she asked rationally.

"We believed that if progenitor had something to do with omnics, making them allies of humans would be incredibly dangerous. We've been operating completely in the dark." He sighed and downed a double shot. "Believe me, Tracer, we did what we had to. I hope, for my soul's sake, that I was right."

"Christ," Lena replied in shock. She looked around for something to add but Tony's sincerity took the words from her mouth. She saw in him a man forced into evil, not a man who desired to do evil. She stood back from him and headed for the door. "Thank you, Tony" she said "I appreciate it". He said nothing as the doors slid shut and the elevator descended. Lena walked through the bustling halls of the base, which looked out over the blue waters of the Seychelles, in a half daze as she plunged yet another syringe into her arm using the strange drug to help her make sense of things. The glimmer of the tempered steel supports burst into the barracks through a large window as she stepped inside and headed for the showers.

She ran it cold and shivered, feeling every icy droplet scratch at her skin as it washed away the sweat. It was still the morning but the sun was rising towards its highest point, and she thought of how indifferent it was, how apathetic the sun is to her problems. It made her feel small and vulnerable. Traditionally, Tracer would accept life as it came, she would choose to be happy almost in an attempt to spite life itself. She couldn't do that now, everything seemed too important, as if her very soul was at stake. Tracer switched off the water and looked at herself in the mirror. Colour had returned to her cheeks and she looked relaxed, her youthfulness returned to her and she smiled, shaking her sodden hair. It had grown long, she hadn't cut it since she'd joined Talon and it was a multitude of colours. She combed her hair in her mirror, looking over the black, browns, blondes and even shades of red which coursed through her hair. It was awkward at first but she pulled it back into a ponytail, while allowing for bangs at the side of her face. Lena pulled a white tee over her shoulders along with her accelerator and a set of skinny jeans over her legs. Then she slipped into a pair of pixie boots and beamed at her new look before pulling the tail of her hair through the back of a discarded Talon baseball cap and left the room.

Lena headed towards the offices next to the operations centre, it was where Reyes usually resided. The sun was beaming down on the staff and Lena giggled at a lowly lab technician who dragged a fan down the corridor towards an angry Officer of some kind. Lena followed and quietly slipped by the roaring inferno of a man as she sought out Reaper. She looked everywhere but couldn't find him until she heard an unfamiliar laugh. It was throaty and raspy like Reapers only in good spirits. She peaked into the recreational lounge and saw Reyes chatting with a Japanese man. He seemed familiar but she couldn't quite place it.

"ah Hanzo, I'm glad you came back!" Reyes said cheerily. "especially after picking up another girl, I've needed someone who doesn't make me want to smash my head into a wall"

"Hmph" he snorted, "Tracer's… personality is legendary" he said with a wry grin plastered to his face.

"Kids got issues, she's pretty quiet now in all honesty" he said truthfully. Lena, who listened on intently, was struck by Reyes' honesty and by his compassion. "I'm impressed she's stuck around as long as she has, to be honest."

"A girl lost in time deserves more credit, Gabriel" Hanzo replied. Lena looked behind her and around, and plucked up the courage to head in.

"Hi Love!" she said striding into the room and hopping onto the sofa. "Aww do us a favour? Pop the kettle on?" she giggled, looking at the kettle next to Reyes. Hanzo stifled a smirk as Reyes grunted and heated the water.

"I need to work, there's some preparations that must be made for the mission" Hanzo said, taking his leave, bowing slightly at Tracer before leaving the room. Tracer watched him intensely before turning to Reaper as he turned out of sight.

"I want to be back on the missions, Reyes" she demanded.

"ahaha" he laughed menacingly "you sure you're ready, girl?"

Lena shifted awkwardly as Gabriel stood over her, looming like an eclipse as she squirmed beneath him. "Yeah" she replied unconvincingly.

"Okay then." He said bluntly and handed her a cup of tea. Tracer's brow shot up in surprise. "What did you want it or not, girl?"

"Don't call me that" Lena said quietly, taking a sip from the cup. "Tony said you had to approve some alterations to the accelerator?"

"I have a few idea's yeah"

"Like what?"

"Miniaturise and compartmentalise the device itself, Hans and I reckon that instead of anchoring you in this time zone we can create a field around you if we split the accelerator into smaller pieces and activate some kind of nano field around you" he said.

"sounds complicated" Lena said, gulping down half the cup of tea.

"It is" Reyes said, rubbing his temples. "It will mean that as long as you wear the smaller pieces you won't need the large accelerator, unless of course you're going on a mission."

"You mean I could live normally?" Lena exclaimed, her face lighting up. "What do you need?"

"Go with Hanzo, we need to gain access to Overwatch's new encryption codes and your old accelerator data from a backdoor Sombra found in Overwatch's systems."

Lena nodded and headed for the door as Reaper grinned, pleased with his new protégé.

The VTOL hummed along nicely until they came upon the landing pads of the outer city. "Oasis is a beautiful place Tracer, blend in and get the data, I'll cover you." Hanzo said before dropping onto the roof below. Lena walked through the crowd, trying to attract as little attention as possible as she moved towards the data point. Widowmaker and Sombra had freed the encryption from Overwatch weeks ago and Sombra had been bouncing the data around the globe, creating a quagmire of digital footprints, making it impossible to trace. Now, all they had to do was download it from a random-access point.

Tracer's abilities made her acutely aware of her surroundings and while she could feel Hanzo's presence, occasionally noting a strange shift in the shadows, she also noted a second presence following her like a hawk. She entered a restaurant and walked though it quickly, entering a closed central area. In the middle, a hole in the floor vented heat from masses of hard drives and to the right was a small room, which contained the control point where the data resided. Tracer drew McCree's revolver and stepped inside, closing the doors to the room and starting the download.

Behind her however, emerged a figure who had followed her, a figure who's voice sent a shockwave through Tracer's spine. "Lena?" Hana asked, in disbelief. Tracer turned and aimed the pistol straight at .

"Hana? What are you doing here?" Tracer asked.

"Finding out Talon are up to" she said cautiously.

"We're just…"

"So it's _WE_ now is it Tracer?" she spat.

"What?"

"You know what I mean Lena, you joined them!"

"I had no choice, I had to save you"

"Lena, I'm under arrest, the Korean government told me I could either work for them or rot in jail" she snapped "You didn't help me at all you just let them divide us"

"There's so much you don't know, Hana!" Lena replied shaking.

"Why didn't you trust me to face them together, why did you join them?!" she asked again, her voice cracking.

"They offered me answers Hana, about Morrison and about Progenitor" Lena begged "forgive me, please!"

Hana ignored her "How do you know what progenitor is?" she said, her eyes wide.

"wait, you do too?" Lena asked as Hana holstered her weapon.

"It's some kind of science initiative the Chinese are building for the UN" she replied calmly.

"The Chinese? They're boycotting the UN though, that's why they're harbouring Overwatch in shanghai."

"I'm not exactly told much Lena, now that I'm a prisoner." Hana said angrily and taking a step towards Tracer. Lena pulled out her gun and Hana froze. "Lena?" She asked in surprise "what are you doing?"

Tracer ignored her. "Progenitor. It's some kind of project that Morrison has been protecting, he killed my parents and he killed Emily to protect it." She said quickly as the download finished.

"What do Talon want with Progenitor, Lena?" Hana asked, taking another step towards her friend.

"Get back Hana!"

"Tell me!" she pleaded, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I… I-I don't know" Lena stammered, she was close to tears as her friend finally realised what she'd done.

Hana let go and her eyes darkened. "It's true, isn't it?"

Tracer turned to her, putting the chip into a pouch on her hip.

"McCree, Ana and Winston, you really did kill them…" she stepped backwards.

Tracer was in tears but she held firm. "I'm sorry, Hana" she said and left the room, slipping into the sea of people who went about their lives none the wiser.

The next morning began much the same way the previous one had. Tracer got up as dawn broke, went for a run and hit the gym. She spoke with Hans who was busy analysing part of the data she'd recovered and she left around the same time to watch Widowmaker enter the garden. Tracer headed downstairs and looked around for the entrance to her hide away spot.

"Amelie?" she asked.

Amelie rounded the corner a moment later and stood with a hand on her hip. "What do you want, _Cherie_ " she asked, running her hand through Tracer's hair.

"I want to talk" Lena found herself saying. She realised she desired Amelie in a way she never thought she would. "I want to start using the crystal full time, I saw Hana on the last mission and I just ran, if that were a dangerous mission, I could have gotten you-" Lena fumbled for the words as Amelie stood over her, smirking. "I could've gotten someone hurt."

"Aww _Cherie_ " she cooed. "You have a debriefing with Reyes in twenty minutes, come find me after." She said as she returned to her hiding spot.

Tracer smiled a half smile and ran the other way, down the corridors and towards Reapers office. She tapped on the door and waltzed in. "How's it hangin' boss?" she said, taking a seat.

"It's good news for once, actually, we've now got Overwatch's encryption codes, which means we can listen to what they're up to."

Tracer nodded, "so I'm back on active duty?"

Reaper rubbed his temples. "Yes, but Hans is analysing your accelerator data, he's trying to miniaturise the system for you, we're bringing in some Vishkar hard-light architects to upgrade the design. One of them is even joining the team so be nice, or don't I couldn't give less of a shit." He said dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

Lena ran towards Amelie's quarters at a blinding pace, her legs ached from the workout but she willed herself forward, skidding to an abrupt halt as she reached Amelie's door. Her chest heaved as she opened the door, which felt heavy and stubborn in her timid hands. Amelie was sat on her sofa in a crop top and leggings, her brow lined with a faint layer of sweat. Her cheeks were pale, almost a reflection of her former skin tone and her hair was tied into a messy bun. She looked towards Tracer and smiled.

"Come" she said, grabbing a case and heading to the kitchen.

Lena followed and breathed heavily. "That's not crystal, that's your stuff" she said.

" _non, Cherie_ " she said, "I made this for you, it's based on what I take."

"what does it do?"

"Everything mine does but slow your heart" she replied, flicking the vial and handing it to Lena along with the case. Amelie left her staring at her the small vial, which Lena loaded into a syringe. Lena noticed the door had been left ajar and headed towards it. She stepped inside, where Amelie stood with her own drug only completely naked. Their eyes locked and Amelie stepped forward, her breasts inches from Lena's as she gawked at the Frenchman's eyes, glued to the spot.

"I adore your new hair style" she said, placing a hand on Lena's hip.

"Thanks, love" Tracer replied, her voice was quiet and meek. "What's it like? Losing your emotions, I mean" Lena asked, looking up at the Amelie.

The woman smirked and took her shot, which Lena watched as it dispersed from her forearm and coursed throughout the rest of her body. "You still _feel_ " she began as she discarded her syringe and placed a second hand upon Tracers back.

Lena looked at the syringe as Amelie removed her own clothes. She pierced her skin and flinched at the pain, which intertwined with the tingling sensation from Amelie's touch. Widowmaker came back up to face her.

"You can still feel, _Cherie_ " she said, biting her lip, "you simply feel your most base desires". Their lips met. "To eat and drink," she began, nuzzling her face into Lena's neck. "To kill" she added, biting her earlobe sharply. "Even lust" she whispered as her wandering hand danced across Lena's most private areas.

Lena sighed deeply and closed her eyes as Amelie placed her free hand upon Lena's and injected the fluid into her veins. What came next was hard for Lena to describe, the world felt simple but everything seemed so intense. Every movement the pair made as they writhed upon each other seemed deliberate and refined, every sound their mouths moaned was crisp and clear and every colour, even in the dimly lit quarters of Amelie Lecroix, seemed vibrant and perfectly contrast against each other.

Lena let herself go and laughed in Widowmakers arms, finally at peace and finally fulfilled.


	11. Waiting For The End

Chapter 11 – Waiting for the End.

Tracer woke in the morning and the world seemed brighter. The sun pierced through the cracks in the curtains and filled the room like a liquid. In her veins, the potent serum coursed through her like raw alcohol, at once cleansing and corroding her body. Lena's naked form was wrapped delicately in a white silk sheet, her now long hair obstructed her vision as she yawned unceremoniously and grinned at the ceiling.

"Amelie, that was amazing" she said, interlacing her fingers with Widowmaker's long blue hair. Widowmaker didn't stir, save for a smile which spread lazily across her face. It had been a week since Tracer started sleeping with her and she had not felt more herself since Emily was killed. She turned over and swung her bare legs over the side of the bed and hopped out. For women purged of emotion, the pair of them were remarkably happy. Tracer supposed that perhaps this was a sign of her growing sociopathy however, given her current state, she couldn't care less about it. As if to accentuate this, she took a dose of her new medication and sighed heavily as relief flooded her body.

Lena still felt numb as she pulled her orange leggings on and as she slipped her feet in to her running shoes. She pulled on a tank top and left the room, heading towards the briefing rooms. She punched in her security code at the door and stepped inside as the door slid aside, bleeting its approval.

Sombra looked up from her tablet and smiled. "Ah Juliet arrives!" she smirked "or maybe you're the Romeo!"

This made Hanzo laugh. "Now that would be something" he chimed.

Lena blushed as she poured a mug of coffee from the pot, "that's not really how it works, love" she giggled.

Hanzo's brow furrowed slightly however, and Lena felt him watching her as she bit into a slice of toast. Sombra spoke after a few moments of silence. "Big news coming in from the top, I heard" she gloated. she'd obviously gained access to it without Reapers permission.

"That would explain the hurry" Hanzo said as two squads of men ran past the door and bolted down the hallway towards the hangar.

"You think we'll be involved?" Tracer asked with a mouthful.

"When aren't we?" Sombra said with a smile.

Lena nodded in agreement as Hanzo stared at her cautiously. "You sure you can handle it Lena?" he asked, a paternal tone in his voice.

Lena shrugged. "I can't wait, I've been itching for a fight for ages." She said as Widowmaker walked into the room. "Anyways, I've got to meet with Hans, he's showing me my new accelerator!" She said before bolting from the room towards the lab.

Hans' lab was pandemonium. Scientists dashed about, clucking to each other and whirring about as Hans directed them in a symphony of panic and distress. The Vishkar scientists were visibly frustrated with Hans as he ordered them around.

"Remember people, I said practicality was key!" he belched. "And it's got to be fashionable, for the love of god, with the type of power we're giving her we can't afford to upset her!" he said laughing to himself as he downed the last of his coffee.

Tracer giggled and shouted out to him. "Hans! I better be impressed with your progress" she said, feigning disgust.

"You will be ma'am" he smiled, bowing lightly in jest, "we've managed to create a design that shows a lot of promise."

"Do explain love" Tracer said as she approached the holographic schematics bench.

"Okay, so your current accelerator essentially holds you in place like an anchor. So instead of your body moving in and out of time it traps you in the present and synchronises your cells."

"Yeah that's what Winston told me." Tracer said, giving her old friend no thought.

"Right, so, our new design…" Hans began as he pulled up the new accelerator onto the hologram. "is this!" he beamed. On the projector were six items: Four bracelets, a necklace and a small flat device, which seemed to be a power source of some sort.

"I like it" Tracer said, looking them over curiously. "So what's different?" she asked, looking at Hans in anticipation.

"Well, this isn't so much an upgrade as it is a whole new device." He said. "So where as your current accelerator holds you in our time, this device will separate it by creating a sort of biotic field around you."

"In English, love, I didn't get around to doing a degree in chronal physics."

"That's not a thing, Tracer" Hans chuckled.

"Exactly!" she giggled back "so explain"

"Well, it means that you will operate independent of our time." He said, letting the revelation sink in.

"So, I could literally time travel?" Tracer spoke softly.

"Well yes, but travelling significant distances would be impossible because of the amount of energy it requires." Hans sighed and rubbed his nose. "Of course, this opens up a billion questions about the nature of reality itself."

"woah"

"yeah, no shit, right?" Hans smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "some good news is that we are planning on powering it using your own condition, it is completely self-reliant." He added.

"It is?" Lena asked, her eyes lighting up "how?"

"uh well basically, splitting a pocket of reality from reality creates a lot of energy." He chuckled. "If we powered it any other way you'd explode so we harnessed that."

"Jesus…"

"Don't worry, we're making it as safe as possible." He reassured her by handing her a prototype of the small flat box.

"so, this is the main bit?" she asked.

"Yep" Hans said, then he smiled. "All it does is amplify your ability to control your own time, which means you don't have to wear it all the time"

Tracer smiled, had it not been for the medicine she may have cried. "Are you for real?" she asked, looking up at him.

"one hundred percent" he replied, wiping his hair from his face.

"awesome" she whispered, feeling a hint of true emotion burst through her. "I better go practice, then, shouldn't I?" she said, spinning on her heels. "Thank you so much, Hans!" she said, kissing him on the cheek. Hans turned to thank her but she was already halfway out the room by the time he thought to do so.

Tracer arrived at the training centre and got to work on her training routine. She began with a basic simulation, a four versus one situation. Lena smirked as a turreted bastion unit appeared above her, pinning her behind cover as two soldier units flanked her. Lena dashed forward, attempting to prevent them from trapping her but was forced back as an OR-15 unit deployed a shield and covered the bastions weak spot. Tracer blinked twice and emptied a clip into one of the soldier units, disabling him almost instantly. She sprinted towards the second but didn't manage to kill it off and rolled for cover to reload. The bastion unit moved again, trying to trap her in a crossfire between itself and the OR-15. Tracer was about to finish off the soldier droid but was pulled back by the OR-15's graviton charge. In attempt to finish her off, the OR-15 deployed its supercharger but Tracer recalled behind the soldier, allowing Bastion to tear it to pieces with its turret. As it reloaded, Tracer saw her opportunity and blinked at the OR-15. She unleashed a flurry of Bullets at its head and giggled as it collapsed to the floor. With this done, she dodged the Gatling gun and lobbed a pulse bomb at the final omnic, killing it instantly.

Tracer sighed in relief but she noticed a shadow shift in the corner of her eye. Reacting instantly, she recalled as a training arrow flew through the space where her head at been. "Not cool, Hanzo" Lena remarked, drawing her pistols.

"Good reactions, let's see just how good they are" he said, ignoring her and nocking another arrow.

"Eat my dust!" she replied, launching into a sprint.

Hanzo forced off several arrows in quick succession and Tracer slid to evade them. Hanzo knew he would lose at close range and so fired his scatter arrows at Lena, making her evade again as he clambered onto higher ground.

"Why do you take the serum, Tracer, it's dangerous" he shouted, letting loose another flurry of arrows.

Tracer ignored him, and pressed her attack. She used a pulse bomb to force him of his perch and tried to then fight him hand to hand. The pair of them fought harder than they needed to and Tracer began to feel contempt for the self-righteous as they slowly stopped training and began to actually hurt each other. Tracer crossed the line first, drawing McCree's pistol and laughing as Hanzo scrambled away for his real arrows.

"What is wrong with you?!" he shouted as Lena giggled, shooting at his feet.

Grabbing his arrows, Hanzo began to shout. "Let the dragon -" however a shot cracked his bow. Amelie smirked as Hanzo's ultimate petered out. She rappelled elegantly from the gantry where Reaper and Tony also stood, watching the proceedings and muttering quietly to each other.

Tracer breathed heavily and realised she'd gone too far but as Amelie came to her side and folded her arms in opposition to Hanzo she felt vindicated.

"Let her do what she wants" she said, staring him down.

"Is she doing what she wants or what you want?" Hanzo said through gritted teeth. "we all ended up here because we betrayed the other side but the Tracer I know and fought against would never sink this low." He seethed, his breathing ragged from a deep-seated rage, as if he were watching a tragedy play out before him.

"It's just easier, Hanzo" Lena spoke, putting an arm around Amelie's waist.

"Is it?" he spat. "The great Lena Oxton, you would sacrifice your honour and identity because it's easy? You'd let her make you a killer because it's easy? You're weak."

Tracer looked away but clutched Amelie tighter, the confusion growing within her. She couldn't keep track of right and wrong anymore.

Amelie simply laughed at him and pulled her away, leaving Hanzo to stare up at the gantry in frustration as they returned to the common room in the barracks.

When they reached it however, a woman was sat on the couch, she rose elegantly and held out a hand to greet them. "I am Symmetra, I'll be working here from now on." Tracer nodded and Widowmaker waved her hand dismissively.

"Nice to meet you, love" she smiled as Amelie pulled a small box from a drawer that contained their dosage for the day. "Where you from?"

"I'm a high-level architect for the Vishkar corporation-"

"no, love, I mean your home" Tracer giggled as she took her dose.

"India, originally" she said cautiously. "May I ask what that's for?" she said, referring to the strange liquid encased within the syringe.

Amelie interrupted quickly "To maintain order" she said haughtily "of both the mind and body" she winked at Lena who blushed. As Symmetra nodded her approval, if that is necessary to maintain order then you must be commended.

Tracer opened her mouth to speak but was silenced as Reaper dragged Sombra into the room by her ear. "Let go of me pendejo!" she said through gritted teeth. Reaper ignored her and threw her to the floor as Hanzo, Tony, and Hans followed them into the room.

"What's going on?" Lena asked, looking down at Sombra, who panted heavily upon the floor.

" _Her._ " She spat.

Lena looked at Symmetra, who rolled her eyes.

"What about her?"

"Vishkar destroyed my home, Reyes!" Sombra seethed as she rose to her feet. "When you took me in you promised me you'd protect me from them!"

Reaper ignored her and stood beside Tony as Symmetra snickered. "We don't care about you, Sombra" she gloated. "You and Lucio may have set us back but your little revolution failed."

"They are here for the development of Lena's new Chronal Field Modulator and will provide additional tactical support on our next mission" Tony said, loudly asserting his position as boss and shutting the dissent down with ease. "Hans, patch him through" he said sternly.

"ya, sir" Hans replied, hurriedly tapping his tablet and bringing the communicator online.

The familiar face of Takeshi appeared before them and Lena smiled warmly. "Takeshi!" she gleamed.

"Hello Tracer!" he replied in earnest. "I'll get right to the point because timing is essential." He said, displaying an ardent sense of professionalism.

"We've discovered a surviving prototype of progenitor." He said as Tracer felt her knee's go weak. "It's ended up in the hands of the shambali, in Nepal."

"Nepal?" Reaper said, "Last time I heard, Genji had it." He added, looking at Hanzo.

"He still does, whatever progenitor is, it's clear that he didn't trust Morrison with it" Takeshi replied.

"He defected?" asked Hanzo.

"Looks that way, yes" Tekashi said, appearing uncomfortable as Hanzo turned about, scratching his chin in thought.

"Well what are we going to do?" Lena asked, looking at Tony.

"Good question," he began "Thank you for the intel, Tekashi, you may go." He said and Tekashi disappeared from view. "The operation is simple, we wait until Overwatch launch their attack and we join the fray. There's a small village, which we will use as a base of operations, that's our first objective and it's where Hanzo and Symmtra will remain to coordinate the troops"

"Troops?" Sombra asked, raising an eyebrow "sounds like an invasion"

"It is" said Reaper with a deep sigh.

"Overwatch are as desperate as we are, they're throwing everything they have left into this." Tony said grimly. "The second phase is for Widowmaker, Reaper, and Sombra to take and hold the Sanctuary"

"What about me?" Tracer asked, hoping desperately to be involved.

"You will first help take the village, then you will help take the shrine" he said, "you will also go inside the sanctum to secure the prototype until help can arrive."

After that things moved quickly, the base was awash with activity as all the remaining members of Talon geared up to leave for Nepal. Tracer spent much of that time alone, thinking about the coming fight. For a moment, she thought about her old friends, she knew they'd be there and she knew that she could not afford to hesitate. With that in mind she stuffed a few extra doses of medication into her pockets knowing she'd need them later. Tracer then became acutely aware of a pair of cold hands on her hips and breathe on her neck and she sighed deeply as Amelie clutched her tightly, turning her around to face her.

They stared at each other for a while, just taking each other in. Widowmaker smiled that devilish grin and kissed Lena's forehead before wiping her bangs from the side of her face. "I adore your hair like this, _cherie_ " she said, playing with it between her fingers.

"I guess I got tired of the boyish look" she smiled back.

Amelie grabbed her by the neck and bit her lip before bringing them to Tracer's. "Good luck" she said, releasing her slowly and walking away towards the VTOL. Lena watched her all the way, seeing her ass swing like a golden pendulum as she felt her lip and wiped her lover's saliva from her mouth.

Hanzo slipped from the shadows behind her and spoke softly, placing a hand delicately on her shoulder. "Lena…" he said, making her jump.

"Oh bloody hell Hanzo, you coulda given me a warnin' or something!" Tracer said cheerily.

"Forgive me" he said "for that, and for earlier" he added sheepishly.

"Look, it's okay, I kinda lost it too" Tracer admitted, tying her hair back into a tight ponytail.

"I just know what it feels like to betray someone, Lena" he spoke confidently and with the reverence of a warrior. "The widowmaker does too, even if she doesn't admit it" he said.

"You mean she know's?" Lena asked in astonishment, her head snapping towards the VTOL where Amelie stood, talking with Sombra and Reaper. "she stays even though she knows what they made her do?"

"Yeah" he said shaking his head. "she embraced what they made her, she was so convincing that Reaper even tried taking her off her medication"

"and she kept going?"

"of course, she did, that's just who Amelie is"

"or was…" tracer noted.

"perhaps, but she found a way to deal with it" Hanzo said softly.

"Did it work?" Lena asked, concerned for her own medication.

"For her perhaps," he sighed, "certainly not for me anyways." Tracer raised a brow at that, hoping he would expand further but he couldn't, something painful seemed to stop him. "All I'm saying, is that it's easier to live with your actions than it is to change who you are."

Lena said nothing, swallowing hard as she heard some home truths. "I mean, what you two feel for each other, is it as special as your feelings for Emily?" he said, looking Tracer in the eye.

Tracer said nothing. She did nothing. Soon she realised, she'd become nothing as well. Hanzo walked away and she finished packing her gear. In her black Talon combat gear, only her soon to be outdated accelerator remained of who she used to be.


End file.
